The Triforce
by Firefly117
Summary: CHAPTER 8 IS UP! 10 years after the war that almost brought Hyrule to its extinction, a boy that lived a life of poverty is shown the path to his destiny as Hyrule's savior from the next onslaught. Rated T for profane language and violence. Please R&R.
1. Prologue

I do not own The Legend of Zelda, nor do I own any of the characters and all that stuff. However I do own the made-up characters in this fanfic. This will only be stated in this chapter, none other, so don't complain when you go to Ch. 5 and don't see this.

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**Prologue**

Many years ago, Hyrule was nothing as it is now; a wasteland, void of any sort of life, and peace was just a fantasy in the land. There were no forests that sheltered the animals, nor were there animals that lived. No rivers to offer a cool drink to a traveller or any other living thing. There were no valleys that carved through the land and shaped the surface. There were no fields that stretched out for miles and miles. All that there was were wastelands as far as the eye could see. The sun never shone, for black clouds as thick as a fire's smoke lingered in the skies, with bolts of lightning that scarred the land for the eternity to come that time. Death had made it's home in the Hyrule that once was, but this sort of calamity did not continue.

From the heavens above, three golden goddesses came to this wasteland of a place, becoming Hyrule's saviors from the destruction. These three golden goddesses are Din, goddess of power; Nayru, goddess of Wisdom; Farore, goddess of Courage.

Din, with her strong, flaming arms, carved the land and cultivated the red earth.

Nayru, pouring her wisdom unto the land, gave the world law.

Farore, giving her spirit to Hyrule, created the life that would uphold the law.

With their labours complete, the three goddesses left the world for the heavens. Once they did, they left a relic of great and sacred power, meant to keep balance between light and dark; between both the pure of heart and those with hearts consumed by shadow. Three golden triangles, each with the power of one of the goddesses, formed as one triangle: the Triforce.

The Triforce was hidden inside a temple which the goddesses built for this purpose. It was built in the center of Hyrule, surrounded by everything which was made by the golden goddesses. Since that time, all life in Hyrule lived in peace, no violnce ever breaking out amongst them. Not even sins of small effect occurred. Life in Hyrule, that time and centuries to come, was peaceful for all... well, at least for that time alone.

A storm brewed in the skies above the land of gold, with black clouds hovering across all of Hyrule. The sun's light could not penetrate the stormclouds that lingered above. Soon after the clouds fell to the surface, consuming all in darkness. The living, both man and beast, had their hearts turn to shadow, controlled by the darkness. They all started to kill eachother as they bathed in a bloodbath to obtain what was desired most by their dark hearts: the Triforce.

Those who did not give up to this insanity of the dark-hearted fought back to protect the relic of the gods. The King, himself, along with other royal families of Hyrule, sent forth their armies to fight against their brethren, their families, their own people, to protect the Triforce. The storm that came before only brought rain of blood, thunder of the clashing of blades, lighting of the fire that came with the chaos that which was Hyrule. The King prayed to the gods of Hyrule for help, but an answer did not return. Only when the King of Hyrule thought that it could not be worse than it was, that's when it became worse.

Evil had become much more organized, more smarter than anticipated. All the darkness that existed escaped from the possessed, only to form an entity from all of it. That entity, heartless and with the desire to kill, wanted what was fought for: the relic of the goddesses. An army of monsters came from beneath, all killing the life of Hyrule so that their master, the King of Evil, the dark entity, could have the Triforce.

All hope was lost at that very moment, as the war between Hyrule and the dark creatures continued for centuries since that time. Although hope was definetly lost for Hyrule, it did not disappear.

A warrior, dressed in the green of fields, rode into battle. He held his blade up high, striking the enemy with swift and decisive blows. He quickly headed towards where the King of Evil waited for him, for the warrior's arrival was waited for by the dark entity inside the temple where the Triforce laid protected. The warrior, once inside, charged at the dark entity, his sword held by his side. The King of Evil attacked as well, clashing his sword with the warrior's. A blast of what sounded like thunder echoed in the room of the temple. Both fought malevolently, attempting to destroy the other. It was a battle that decided the fate of Hyrule.

The warrior and the King of Evil exchanged few words, so it is said, only enough to understand the other's intent. To kill their opponent. The warrior fought brilliantly, with his sword dancing in the air, as it collided with the dark blade of the King of Evil. Blessed with the power of the Goddess's, the warrior held his own against the King of Evil. Only when an hour had passed did the warrior tire. Seeing his victory at hand, the King of Evil threw his head back and laughed. Then, in one powerful thrust, he stabbed his blade of darkness into the warrior's chest, peircing his heart. As the light died from the warrior's eyes, his body began to glow, seeming to radiate with the goddesses' control over him. The King of Evil was locked in place, frozen by awe and fear of the image before him. With a swift swing of his sword, the head of the dark king fell to the floor, with the warrior's body following it afterwards. The door to the Dark Realm, where all of the dark-hearted are sent to, opened once the dark king was no more, and the door took all of the monsters, created by the King of Evil, inside it, and the King of Evil followed his minions into the world of shadow. The temple crumbled from the door's power, but it did not collapse. All of Hyrule came back to peace, but the smell of blood lingered and the corpses of their people laid in a pool of blood. It would take years to bring back Hyrule to what it was before the massacre.

The warrior, however, was gone from the world. His body, found by a priestess of the temple, was buried at the temple grounds, to be remembered forever as the one who saved Hyrule and protected the triforce. The day the King of Evil was gone, the people of Hyrule went to the hero's grave to pay their respects to their savior, and they had a grand feast to celebrate the vicotry of the warrior, always wanting to remember the day of new peace.

Well, that's what I heard, probably some children's tale told by traders at the taverns during the late nights. However, it's hard to say whether it's a dumb legend to make up for the forgotten truth of our pasts, or if this is that forgotten truth. It doesn't matter to me anymore, though. What matters most now, to me and to everyone depending on me, is that I'm the only one to bring Hyrule to it's Golden Age, as it was before that supposed dark era had been born. My name, not important to me, nor should it be to you. Just know that this is a story of a troubled boy, who must protect his people from the darkness that is soon to come.


	2. My Past, Present, and Unjust Accusation

A/N: Sorry for the delay. I didn't have the chance to start until about 5 days ago, with school and all. However, I can guarantee now that I'll be updating more often than before. Also, I'll be leaving some notes at the bottom of each chapter explaining some stuff in the chapter which I cam up with for the story.

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**Chapter I**

**My Past, Present, and Unjust Accusation**

A day of warmth before the time of cold. Winter was approaching soon, and the first snowflake could fall any day. A cool breeze would blow from over the mountains (one of them being Death Mountain) from the north from time to time. However, for a time when the days should be getting colder, today was different. This day made summer feel as if it would not go. The sun shone with a gentle radiance on the bustling towns and quiet woods. The lush fields of green flowed with the wind, and Lake Hylia was calm as well. All that could be said was that today was one of the best days that Hyrule could recieve. A gift from the gods, possibly? Or a sign of pity for many, for a dark event may come brewing out of nowhere, to no one's knowledge? Hopefully that will not come for a long time.

This day may have been excellent for many, but for one boy it was sacred. This day was something to cherish for many years to come for him.

"What a wonderful day it is."

The boy sat at the edge of the lake, staring into the clear skies above. He sat there, knees bent up and his arms crossed over them, holding a fishing rod loosely in his right hand. His dirty blonde hair waved with every gust of the cool, gentle breeze that came by, with his eyes gazing up into the sky. He was in his young adolescent years, around the age of 16 maybe. He had never been so happy to enjoy a day such as this, for his life was not one to enjoy. His dirty, ripped clothes and the rope around his waist that held his pants up was an evident sign that would give it away to anyone who sees him. That might also have been why his physique is well-built. He was a street urchin, living off of what he could find, or steal, anywhere he went. That boy was me.

My fishing rod really wasn't a fishing rod, more like a long branch and thin rope tied at the other end. I tied a worm or two at the end of the rope, and threw the end into the water and waited. At least it was better than catching fish with my bare hands, and trust me on that 'cause it can be a real pain in the ass after awhile. Anyway, it shouldn't be a big problem since fish were swarming everywhere in the water. I just sat and waited for a fish to catch onto the rope, so I could just pull it out and have something to eat.

It wasn't long until a large fish was grabbing onto the rope with it's massive mouth. I quickly strengthened my grip on the branch with both hands, and pulled as hard as I could as I stood up for support. It was trying to pull me into the water, but I stood my ground against the monstrous beast. It might as well have been about 30 pounds if not more. I knew that I would have a meal for today as well as tomorrow if I caught this thing.

Suddenly I was forced back. The tension in the rope was gone. I looked closely and saw that the large fish was swimming away with a long, thin object in it's mouth. Seeing this, a thought came to mind that wasn't pleasent. Without a second thought, I pulled the rope out of the water, only to see that the worms were gone as well as half the rope.

"Damn, this isn't what I wanted right now." I cursed under my breath as I fell back onto the soft grass behind me. To my surprise, the soft grass turned to hard, prickly stone in the minute I stood up. I rubbed my hand to feel the uncomfortable rock that I sat on. I turned my head down to see what my butt was on, and then a red eye was looking at me. I jumped off the rock as I was startled to see that the rock was infact a Blue Tektite. It's pincers was wet with it's saliva, opening and closing them. It stared at me for quite awhile when I just stood there looking at it. I was amazed to see a big bug like this. It was abnormally big, it's body being about the size of me if I was curled up in a ball. The legs it had was nearly twice my height. To top it all, I knew what it wanted: me for dinner. Without a second thought, I wrapped my fingers around the hilt of my knife which I keep with me for hunting, pulling it half way out if its sheath to be ready to pull it out. Finally, something to pass the time, I said to myself relieved. It was getting really boring just sitting on the ground watching the time pass. A fight with this creature may not have been fun, but it was better than nothing.

The tektite took the chance to strike first, leaping in the air high above me. I bent my knees and waited for the chance to counter. As it landed, I rolled out of the way and pulled my knife out and sliced one of its legs. Shrieking in pain, it fell to its side and gave me the chance to finish it off. Playing with the knife in my hand, I was ready to give the death blow. With all my strength put into the attack, I lifted my knife overhead and swung it into the soft underbelly of the beast, as the blade entered smoothly if it were in water. The shrieking of pain ended with the motionlessness of the insect's body.

"That's the end of that," I said acting proud of myself. I placed my knife into its sheath, and went to sit at the lakeside, when a firm grip held onto my shoulder. I turned to see who it was, and I saw an old man who didn't look too happy to see me. It was the professor from the laboratory not far from me.

"Hey, professor," I greeted. "I see you brought a broom with you, but something tells me you didn't come here to sweep the grass." This doesn't look good, I warned myself. I knew very well what the broom was for. What else would an old man use a broom for when he sees a kid doing something he thinks is illegal. Oh wait, I was doing something illegal.

"You pesky, little brat!" the professor complained to me, letting go of my shoulder and placing both hands on the broom. "You know that fishing at Lake Hylia is forbidden!"

An angry tone was evident in his voice, when I also noticed that the broom came flying at me. I quickly evaded the attack, and started running. I knew that staying for the moment and taking all my things with me was a bad idea, so I had no choice but to leave as quickly as I could before he would hit me with that broom of his.

Evading the old man's broom swinging was easy, but now finding food for the day would become hard as hell. It wasn't everyday that I could find food. Usually I steal from the shops in the Castle Market Town, since it was much easier, but if that wouldn't work then I'd go hunting. However, hunting would only give me food that tasted like crap. If nothing worked, I would go hungry for the day. There goes my perfect day.

I rested on the side of a tree for the moment. Life was always for the better for my family, and for me. I was never always a street urchin, you know. I used to live in a grand city called DaMar, full of nobles and people in high class. It was located in the center of Hyrule, surrounding the Temple of Time. I was born into a family of nobles myself, where my father was a well-respected soldier, and my mother was a gentle, loving woman.

- - - - -

My father was well on his way to becoming General of the Hyrulean army. His swordsmanship was exceptional when comparing it to the greatest swordsmen in Hyrule. He was a great soldier, always fighting to his fullest, and never giving into defeat until he sees it through the war. Some of his commanding officers said that he acted more like a vicious beast than a normal Hylian, but he always had a heart of gold. He loved his wife, my mother, and he loved me as well as my younger siblings, Alric and Holly. Sometimes he'd teach me and my brother how to fight with a sword, and we learned pretty quickly the basics of it all. Well, at least he told us that, since I never fully grasped the method.

My mother was a gentle woman, never showing an angry face or any sign of anger. She was a loving person, always giving a helping hand to anyone who needs it. Many people ask for her advice, since she was said to be very knowledgeable in many things. Whenever I hurt myself, or if my brother or sister would hurt themselves, she would always be there to make the pain disappear and comfort us. I felt very lucky to have had her as a mother. There was no one like her in all of Hyrule, I could bet you that.

My siblings were always great to have around. My brother Alric was a year younger than me, but more of a bad-ass than I was. I guess you can say we tried to see who was the bigger bad-ass, since that's what we were good at. We went around the city and tried to see who can piss off the shop owners the most. We did get into trouble countless of times, but we both knew it was worth it. Holly, also a year younger, called us stupid for being so "childish" as she puts it, but my brother and I sometimes teased her for being such a baby half the time. It was an eye for an eye, so to speak. She was a timid girl, afraid of such trivial things like the dark and spooky noises and whatnot, but she was always able to put a smile on her face like mom did. Sometimes during the evening, when the sun would slowly set into the horizon, she'd drag me to the hilltop in the city, where a giant tree stood tall, and she would sing to me with her soft, melodic voice and pick flowers. For a girl her age, she could sing better than anyone I knew. It soothed my soul, hearing her sing the way she did.

Life was great, and I felt that nothing could go wrong. That was when something happened that changed my life, as well my family's life, for the worst.

The war that determined the future of Hyrule happened, and my father was sent on the frontline of the Hylian army. My family and I waited for his return, holding onto faith for support. We waited and waited as patiently as we could. I had faith that he'd return, because I knew he would. I felt that he was so great a soldier that he couldn't die. He survived through such wars, why not this one?

And the day the war ended was the day that I would never forget. A soldier came to our doorstep, and when my mother saw him she started to shed tears. I didn't know at first what happened, but I was young and naive. What could you expect from a 6 year old? It was when she started to cry and held the soldier, asking for comfort, as he replied to it by holding her in his arms to attempt to comfort her. My eyes were open to the reality. Father was dead, never coming back. I became angry, thinking life could never go for the better. I thought to myself that my life was over. I wish I was wrong that time. If I ever wanted to be wrong, it would've been that time.

Not long after the war my city was invaded by beasts still corrupt by the Dark King. They destroyed everything they saw, leaving no survivers. Men, women, and children were slain and their corpses thrown everywhere like garbage. It was horrific, something I could never get rid of from my mind. Fortunately I left safely, but at the expense of my mother's life. She forced me to escape, so that I may keep living. I wanted to know what happened to my brother and sister, and I was assured they were safe. I tried to think of something to say to convince my mother to keep me there with her. I didn't want to leave, and have her die for me. My father died, my friends and everyone I knew were killed like animals. I didn't want to live any longer. I wanted to stay, but my mother made me change my mind when she said these words,

"You must live for your land, just as your father did."

I had to leave, I knew I just had to. My father always wanted me to fight not for myself, but for everyone living in Hyrule. Out of respect for him and for my family, I left. I hated what I did, but I knew I had to, or else I could never forgive myself. After that, I lived on my own on the streets of Hyrule City, stealing or finding food and shelter. I used what I learned from my father about survival and fighting. I did everything to survive, even if I had to kill anyone, but luckily I didn't have to.

- - - - -

I heard galloping from afar, and my curious self turned my head to look at where the sounds were coming from. I saw soldiers on horseback riding in my direction. They were wearing red clothes over chainmail armour, so they had to be Royal Guards. What's going on, I wondered. Only a huge event would make the king send the Royal Guard out. I figured it had nothing to do with me, so I rested my head back on the tree trunk. The galloping got louder every second I ignored it, and it just really started to irritate me, so I looked again to see that they were coming my way to me. I stood up, and soon was surrounded by them. One of the guards talked with the one beside him, and held a scroll in their hand. I didn't hear their exact words, but what I did hear was my description. What the hell did I do? I wondered what I could've done to provoke the Royal Guard from coming to get me. There's no way in Hell did I do something that bad.

The guard with the scroll came forward on his horse, and read from the paper, "By order of his Majesty, King Nohanse Daphness Hyrule, you are hereby to come with us peacefully. Any attempt to escape or act of violence shall be responded to with forced obedience to his Majesty's order."

"I didn't even do anything," I tried to explain. "Why the hell do I have to come?"

Then a thought dawned on me. No, that's impossible! I thought. He couldn't have sent a message that fast, it's just impossible!

"Look, I don't know what that old man told you, but I can guarantee that I didn't catch any fish." I tried desperately to convince them. I still think it was impossible that the old man told them I was fishing at the lake.

A guard from behind dismounted from his horse, and I heard his sword unsheathe from it's sheath. I sowly grabbed onto my knife. Did they want to kill me was what went through my mind. They must take this fishing business seriously to want to kill me.

His steps quickened, my grip became tighter. If it was a fight they wanted, a fight they shall recieve, so at the second the guard's blade swung down to my head I took out my blade and blocked it. I didn't move my body, nor did I turn around. I protected myself by only using the sound of the blade slicinng the air. The surprise defence I pulled off had everyone open their mouths in awe, and me smirking at them. The soldier behind me tried another sweep, but I caught him off guard and came in with a jab to the stomach. The chainmail made the jab hurt me but I knocked the guy out. I took his sword and stood infront of the guards. The smirk on my face didn't go away, it became more intimidating by the looks of things. They still looked surprised and a bit afraid. Probably afraid to take me on, I thought.

Yet again, I heard someone dismounting off their horse. I turned around to see someone, a bit taller than me, facing me. I couldn't see who it was because the sun shone into my eyes, but I could tell that it might've been a woman. She raised her hand, as I followed with my knife, but she tricked me by kneeing be in the stomach, knocking me out.

"Damn... you..." was what I managed to say before I lost conciousness.

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The issue about illegality of fishing in Lake Hylia is due to the gathering of fish by Zoras. Since winter is coming soon, the Zoras are gathering fish for the winter so that they don't starve. At this time of the year the fish are easily dying off due to low temperatures and their sensitivity to it. To decrease chances of a food shortage, the King of Hyrule made a law where no one is allowed to fish during this time of year, even when a warm day or two come up. 

The Geography of Hyrule in this fanfiction is very diiferent to the game's (Ocarina of Time). The Temple of Time is in the center of Hyrule, and Lon Lon Ranch is in the woods neighbouring Kakariko Village. Also the villages and Cities and all other regions of Hyrule are a lot bigger so I have more to work with, and the in-game areas were just too small to use alone in this fanfic.

The colour of the soldier's uniform represents his stature. There are 2 main classes, Police and Soldier, which are divided into smaller classes. The Soldiers wear platemail or heavy duty armour, and the Police wear chain mail or similarly light and protective armour. The police are divided into 3 classes. The lowest is Patrol, which wear a light blue and white uniform (the knights in the game). Their armour is light but still very protective. They deal with simple tasks in the cities and towns, like small thefts and burglary and patrolling the streets at day and knight. The second class is Outside Patrol, who wear a dark green uniform and heavier, but still light, chain mail armour than Patrol. They do similar to what the Patrol does, but they are sent outside of towns and cities to patrol the roads through forests, fields, etc. This is second highest in the police class. The highest in this class in the Royal Guard, who wear red and heavier chain mail armour than the other 2 classes. They deal with high-importance issues that must be dealt with as quickly as possible. They also protect the King with their lives if necessary. Think of them as the FBI or RCMP of Hyrule. I will explain the others when the time comes (there's also knights that act as representatives to the other Royal Families of Hyrule and other countries, but the specifics aren't needed).

A final note, the soldiers wear the same plate mail armour as the other, but the armour is dyed a different colour depending on his stature.


	3. True Lies

Sorry for the time it took to put this chapter up. School's a nuisance and really crazy stuff's going on now. Anyway, I'm working on chapter 3 now so I might get it up sooner than before. This chapter seems a bit rushed, and it honestly is so I apologize for that. Anyway, enjoy this chapter and wait patiently for the next one. It'll be up ASAP but don't expect too soon. I haven't given up on this FanFic yet.

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**Chapter II**

**True Lies **

I woke up, but I found myself in something not possible to find yourself in. Black was all I could see, and the darkness seemed to press against my body and pushing against me. It was consuming me alive, and I couldn't fight against it. My body was motionless due to the shadow's pressure against me. _What the hell is going on_, I wondered. _Where in Hyrule could I find myself here?_ _Where did those damn soldiers put me?_

I suddenly noticed a blurred image a few feet away from me. It was a whitish-grey cloud forming into some sort of object. I was forced to watch since the darkness was too strong for me to bear that it wouldn't allow me to close my eyes. I witnessed it changing in front of me and turning into a man. That man walked towards me and held something in his hand by his waist. It was too blurred to tell what it was in his hand, but as soon as he came closer he held it over his head. I knew then what it was he was holding. I was much too afraid to look away, for in his hands he held a sword. In his hands, he held my death.

Just as the man lunged at me with the sword, that's when I awoke from it. I found myself in a room with cobble stone floors and walls of the same stone. Windows let light in from the wall opposite of me. I found myself on a soft bed with pink sheets, and I also noticed a dresser with a mirror hanging over it on the wall. I found myself in a normal room, and I let out a relieved sigh. _It was only a dream. But __it looked so real, though. What did it mean?_

My attention turned to a girl that sat on a chair by the window. The gust of wind blew her golden blonde hair from her face, so I could see her face clearly. I could tell by seeing into her sapphire blue eyes that she was sad, or worried, about something... no, more like scared about something, but not as scared as I was when I realized that I was looking at the heir to the throne, Princess Zelda. I paniced out of fear that I might be in big trouble because of this... _wait a second_, I thought, _why am I in her room and not being questioned like it normally happens?_ It confused me now what was going on. I mean, if I was breaking a law, especially such a law like fishing in Lake Hylia at this time of year, then I should be in the dungeon and waiting to be questioned. Why would I be sent to Princess Zelda's room? It made no damn sense at all.

She looked at me then, noticing me sitting up on the bed. I looked at her, and froze._ What's gonna happen now? What will she do? _The thoughts went on and on in my head at that one second we looked at each other until she started to speak.

"Good, you're awake," she spoke softly. "How has your sleep been? Pleasent, I hope."

The only thing I could do then was act like an idiot and nod with my mouth open in awe. What else could I do? She was talking to me in a nice way, and not suspiciously nice. _Just what in the freakin' hell is going on!?_

Zelda then turned away to look out the window. She sighed a worried sigh, before she asked me the one question that really was the shock of my life.

"Is your name Lee?" she asked, and my eyes opened wide to the shocking question. _How did she know my name?_ _I never told anyone my name before for the past 10 years and she knew me. How is that possible?_ I did the one thing I could do, and that was freaking out and lashing out at her, asking her the many questions my mind wanted answered.

"What the hell is going on?!" I started lashing out, loudly and fiercely," And how did you know my name? I never told anyone my name before, so you couldn't know!" Tears ran down the princess' face, but I didn't bother to notice and continued to lash out at her. "Why am I here?! Tell me, why the hell am I here?! It's not because I was fishing at the lake, is it?!" And I stopped then. I tried to calm myself down after knowing that my rude behaviour was making her cry. _Great, now I've done it._ If there was only one thing that could be the worst possible thing to do, then it would be making the princess of Hyrule cry. I could never remember the last time I made any girl cry. My father taught me to show a lady respect above all else, and that if I failed to do so then I would lose my pride and honour as a man. _Looks like I failed you, father. _I let out a sigh of disappointment. _Well, at least I could try to fix it._

"I'm sorry, your highness, I don't know what came over me." Not much of an apology, but better than nothing I guess. "Please forgive me, your majesty." I went on my knees and bowed down to try and seem more apologetic and respectful.

She wiped her tears with her gloved hand, and looked down at me on the ground. I looked up to see if she was angry or anything like that, but she had a smile on her face instead. Great, another mind-boggling thing. Isn't this the part where she's supposed to be angry and send in guards to have me arrested? Wait, aren't I already arrested? What the hell am I thinking? What the hell everything!? It was obvious that I was panicing with the strangest of thoughts in my head. What would you expect when you're taken by guards by force and thinking you're arrested, but you find yourself in the room of the most beautiful girl in Hyrule? A whole lotta deja vu, that's what!

"Please get up, you do not have to bow down," she said softly once more. "You don't need to do that, please."

Before was confusing enough, but this took the cake. _The princess of Hyrule asking me to not bow? What the... am I still asleep or something, 'cause that's not supposed to happen._ I was confused out of my mind. I needed to know what was going on.

"Look, I'm very sorry about the shouting," I apologized again, making sure there were no hard feeling between the two of us. "It's just that all of this is making no sense at all. Why am I here? Is it because I broke that treaty or something by fishing at the lake?"

"No, not that," Zelda replied. "And you are pardoned from that by my father's orders."

That was a relief to hear her say that, but the question still remained: why the hell was I here?

"Your reason for being here, Lee," Zelda began as if she read my mind, "Is one that is hard to accept." I hated to hear that part. "Are you willing to listen?"

_Well, finally she tells me. _It was relieving to hear that, since then I could listen to her for the moment and get out of there and just live my life the way I did before I was forcefully brought to the castle. Unfortunately for me, it didn't happen that way, and I should've known that when she said that it would be "hard to accept." Out of negligence I nodded my head yes, and Zelda sighed heavily and worriedly. I thought she then lied about the whole pardon from breaking the treaty, but I knew she coudn't do that. Everyone knew Zelda was no liar, she's too kind towards anyone. She cared about anyone, even those threatening to her people and to her. Many Hyruleans don't like that about her, but it shows that she knows justice when the time comes to act lawful and fair-minded.

"Since the day Hyrule became existent, the goddesses have spoken to the many gods of Hyrule about protecting the golden relic, the Triforce. They knew that it would be safe for many years, but the possibility of a malicious force may threaten the relic's safety and the Triforce would be used for the destruction of Hyrule. You do know the story of it's power, don't you?"

"Yeah, of course," I doubtlessly replied. "Whoever with a sinless heart places their hand on the Triforce and makes a wish, Hyrule will go back into its Golden Age, before that war many years ago," and way before the Evil King came. "If a man with a heart filled with hate touches the Triforce, we're pretty much screwed." I must've said that too sarcastically, because when I said that she didn't seem too pleased with hearing it.

"You are correct, Lee," Zelda replied. "And to assure that no man with such a heart is able to obtain the golden relic, the goddesses decided that a family with exceptional ability to control this tremendous power must protect it as their bloodline continues." I didn't know why, but Zelda began to shiver. _Was it cold _I wondered, but I didn't feel anything from outside, not to mention that it was really warm. _Was she afraid of something?_ She was worried the whole time about something, so it must be that._ I don't think it's my sarcasm that made her upset._

Zelda continued, "The gods searched for this family for three days, unable to find any sort of evidence of their existence, and for good reason. 'How could such a family exist without our knowledge?' they asked the goddesses. Do you know what their reply was?" I nodded a no. She then continued, " 'Fate is uncontrollable by even us gods,' they said. Instead of arguing this issue, they kept searching. Their search ended before the sun set into the horizon on the third day, when they spotted a family of nobles who were out on a hilltop, in the city of DaMar. The gods could not understand what they felt coming from them, but it was an extraordinary burst of power. They knew they had found them. From then on, they were assigned as the Guardians of the Triforce, keeping the relic safe from evil. Every firstborn male of each generation protects the Triforce, and the members of his family must aid him in his duty." Zelda bowed her head down, still with that worried expression. I didn't understand what bothered her so much. "After months of looking all over Hyrule, we have found him; we have found the next protector of the relic." She looked up at me. "You are that protector, Lee. You are the Guadian of the Triforce."

I couldn't explain what sort of feeling my body felt, but it was a mix of surprise and fear. I couldn't think straight at that moment. My father always told me I was very important to Hyrule, but like this? I didn't believe it, and I had good reason to.

"You must be shocked to hear this," the princess said softly, probably to try and be sensitive about the issue. It was hard to hold back my temper, but I managed somehow. How would you react to possibly the biggest secret of your life?

"Y-you must be wrong," I replied, stuttering in my voice. "I can't be this guy you're talking about. The protector of the Triforce? Impossible! I mean..." I had no idea what I should've said then and there. It was all a blur, I had no idea what the right thing to say was because I knew then why she was worried the whole time. She was too confident it was me that was this person she talked about, so I knew I had to try and make her think I was him. It would be lying to her majesty, but I couldn't let her think she was wrong. She depended on this assumption too much that if I tried convincing her no it might ruin her hopes.

"Alright, I understand," I told her calmly. "I might feel that you're right, your Highness. Many things happened that were unexplainable in my life, and even if this is doubtfully true, it's the only truth I understand." _I never knew lying was so easy._

A smile showed on her face, and it kind of made me feel good, although I did lie so it wasn't something to feel good about. It made me feel close to guilty, but making her smile nonetheless gave me assurance that I'm pulling it off... for now.

"I knew you were him," she said with a satisfied tone in her voice. She stood up from her chair, and walked to the door as her long pink and white dress brushed over the ground. I couldn't believe how beautiful she was. I knew she was hot, but just looking at her was really a sight to see. I can't find the right word to describe it, but if you could just see her you'll know what I vaguely mean. "Please come with me, Lee," Zelda asked of me as she placed her hand on the door knob. "My father wishes to speak to you."

_The King? Wants to talk to me?_ That was a bit unexpected. The thought of how my meeting with the King of Hyrule went through my mind over and over that one moment. It was a nostalgic feeling, getting the chance to see the King for a reason other than breaking the law. Unfortunately that's how anyone gets to see the King. For some reason he was always busy to fix problems in the kingdom, but what was he so busy for? What was so important? I stopped thinking so much after I had too many questions in my head. With the turn of the knob, followed by the opening of the door, we went on our way.

_But seriously_, I thought to myself. _I get to see the King! How cool is that?_


	4. Deadly Encounters

Hey, I'm back, and with a better chapter... ok almost better. My fight scenes are pretty short right now, same as before, but only because they aren't as important as the ones later on. However, don't get too disappointed because I assure you this fanfic is rolling and will make up for the fighting with story... ok, it won't, but just read the fanfic and tell me what you think. I'll let you decide if it's any good. Tell me what I have to fix and all that.

* * *

**Chapter III**

**Deadly Encounters**

Meeting the King of Hyrule was what I always dreamed of doing. My father told many good things about his majesty and how he cares about his people. After hearing this my curiosity grew even more as to find out about the king. When I was younger I always thought the king was so great and mighty because of power that he had over the kingdom. To me, power was the greatest virtue as a hero which the king was considered by many of his people, but my father taught me better that being a hero isn't all power. Being a hero requires loyalty, honesty, trustworthy, self-sacrifice, courage, honour... if only I could have even half of the qualities he had, then I could possibly consider myself a hero. No one could compare to my father, not even his own son.

We entered the throne room through the large, bronze doors that were too big to even think they were for normal-size people. The throne room from the other side of the huge doors was clean and elegant, with golden brown walls covered by portraits of the past kings of Hyrule, and red curtains draping over the portraits. A red carpet travelled from the large doors to the throne room to the golden-incrusted throne with red back and seat cushions. There were 2 of those thrones; one for Princess Zelda I assumed, and the other I saw the king sit on. He looked presentable with his golden crown on his head, stroking his short, dirty blond beard. He wore a red cape bordered by white wool and underneath the cape he worde a nice white shirt and dark brown pants. The king was pretty big, like fat big, not muscle big. I don't know if I should've thought he was a fat-ass or he used to be in good shape, but he just looked lazy at first sight of him.

There was one thing I learned about the king already before even talking to him: he has a strange fetish for the colour red.

Zelda and I stood at the base of the few steps to the throne the king sat on. The princess walked up to the king and stood beside him.

"Father, I'm here," Zelda spoke in her soft voice again.

"Is this the boy, my dear?" the king asked in a serious tone. Something told me he didn't seem too happy about something.

"Yes father," Zelda replied timidly, although I didn't know why she was afraid. "I am sure this is him. I have no doubt in my mind."

The king groaned, thinking for the moment I stood there, waiting for an answer from him. He seemed to be in a deep state of thought. _What was going on_, I wondered. My enthusiasm was gone after my senses warned me of something. After living on your own for 10 years, you pick up these little things that warn you of danger. Just what was the king thinking about? _I hope he isn't pissed off about the fishing incident._

The king got off the chair, walking to me down the few steps from his throne. I was kinda confused at what to do at this point. I mean, I was standing in front of the king for crying out loud, what was I supposed to do? Out of cinfusion, I bowed down in front of him to show him I had no disrespect for him, and out of fear that he might arrest me or something as bad. A long pause was all I got, silence blanketing the room, and I felt like an idiot. _What's going on? _My question was answered with a laugh from the king standing in front of me, who was pulling me by the arm to have me stand up. I gave him a confused look, and he laughed more._Ok, what just happened? Did I do something stupid... again?_

"Oh, you make me laugh boy," the king said, trying to hold back his laughter. "Didn't my daughter already tell you that you shouldn't bow down to me? My boy, you are as great as the king himself."

"Oh yeah, that's right." Zelda did mention that. How could I forget?

"Let me introduce myself to you, Protector," he said with such pride, opening his arms to embrace that pride of telling me his name. "I am King Nohanse Daphness Hyrule, ruler of this fine land you live in."

"It's a pleasure to meet you, your majesty," I replied.

Nohanse then wrapped his arm around my shoulders, and walked with me to his throne.

"You see, my men and my daiughter, Zelda, have been searching for you for quite some time," the king explained to me. "It took countless tries to find you, and we found many boys your age, and some even older or younger, who we believed was you." He took his hand of my shoulders and walked to his throne. "But they never seemed to pass the Trial of Judgement."

"And what is this Trial of Judgement?" I asked with such sarcastic enthusiasm.

"Oh, you'll soon find out, my boy," Nohanse replied enthusiastically. It was beginning to be a real problem for me to hear his enthusiasm for everything.

He motioned his hand to a Royal Guard that stood to one side of the throne, and that guard soon exited the room.

"Are you ready for the trial?" the king asked me, meshing his fingers together from both hands and leaning his head on them. A worried and frightened look formed on Zelda's face. You know how I mentioned my senses warn me of danger? Well, this was that danger I felt even more then.

"Father, please don't," she pleaded her father. "You always rush this trial, and never give them a chance to be ready." The princess tugged on her father's arm. "Please, give him a week to train. He cannot fight that thing yet." _Uh... what thing was she talking about?_

"If he is given a week to train, only to fail the trial, then the wait would be all for nothing." Nohanse held Zelda's hand. "I know how you feel after the events with the others, but please have faith. Don't worry about him, and hope he does fine." He gave her an assuring smile. "I know he will, my gut tells me so."

Zelda let go of her father's arm, and sat in her throne, still with the sared look on her face. Something told me I wasn't gonna like this one bit.

The guard came into the throne room, with two more walking next to him on either side of him. They all carried chains in their hands, probably pulling something very large. I noticed lights coming from the doorway; two red orbs, next to each other, floating above them. I thought it was some sort of altar they were pulling, with red flames on candles standing tall, but I was dead wrong. Loud stomps were heard from the doorway, followed by a screech that wants to make you run faster than a white wolfos who got its tail cut off. Once the light from the throne room shone onto the creature, it only made me want to freeze from horror. Now I knew why the doors were so big.

"Your trial, my boy," Nohanse explained, "Is to kill this beast, by any means necessary."

_Yeah, right,_ I told myself. _How do you expect me to do that, your majesty?_

It was a moblin, although it was deformed in numerous ways. It had a hunchback growing out, and he looked like he fell into Death Mountain's crater. His skin peeled off, and blood was dripping down from everywhere on the monster. The moblin had teeth bigger than me sticking out from its mouth, and claws were even bigger. I asked myself, looking at my odds of winning, _How the hell am I gonna do this? _I looked back at the king with a petrified look on my face. He gave me a smile, strangely it was a warm one. I didn't know if he was trying to give me some confidence or if he tried to make me feel I'll accomplish killing this big, ugly piece of crap before it rips me to shreds. I seemingly had no choice in the matter, except to fight it. One thing I wanted to know was _how?_

The beast's claw smashed down overhead, and I barely jumped back out of the way. After looking at the crater the claw left, I wondered that if I got hit would anything be left of me. I wasn't given time to think on that subject when I saw the claw swipe across the floor once again towards me. I ducked to dodge the attack, losing a hair in the process and nearly getting my head ripped off. It seemed hopeless to fight this thing, but I had to do it nonetheless. First I needed something to help me fight back, like a sword or another kind of weapon. I knew I couldn't fight the thing without some help, so I thought quick. I looked around the room as I dodged the attacks from the moblin, but nothing seemed effective against it; there were no suitable weapons, no swords, no spears, no nothing. That's when Zelda took matters into her own hands, or at least that's what I think happened. She forcefully took a spear out of one of the guards' hands and notified me,

"Lee!" she called out. Luckily I heard her, but barely, through all the falling stone and debree, as well as the wooden support beams from the ceiling that splintered to the ground. I looked at her, and she threw the spear toward me as I watched it soar through the air before it rolled onto the ground. I grinned, satisfied with my odds from that point. _Finally, something worth fighting with._ I dive rolled to the spear, avoiding another one of the smashing fists from the horrid-looking moblin, and grabbed the spear. I held it defensively, finally standing up to the beast. _Time to kick some monster ass! _

The beast threw down his claw to the ground with brute strength. I didn't jump cowardly out of the way this time, but instead I stood there and drove the head of the spear through the moblin's claw. Strange, I thought, that I didn't feel scared to fight back. I didn't know what the feeling was, nor where it came from, but it was such a calm and soothing feeling. I felt unusually overwhelmed of calmness and felt so relaxed, feeling no fear while standing up to this creature. Did I also mention that I never held a spear in my hand before? Because it felt so comfortable in my hand like I was skilled with using the weapon. What also happened was that I blanked out, unaware of what went on. My body wouldn't listen to me, nor did my mind. It was like... I don't know how to explain it. I didn't know where this sensation came from, I didn't know why it happened, but since my body didn't listen to me it could only mean that I was being controlled by something, or someone. But if that was true, which I highly doubted, then who, or what, was it?

The beast screeched in pain, pulling it's claw back. My spear was still stuck to its hand, but I didn't plan to let go. I held strongly to the spear, trying to pull it out with my weight. Successfully I pulled the weapon out, landed on the ground, and swung the spear overhead in my hand as I went into a defensive stance. I stared at the moblin, watching it's movement carefully. I never felt such a calm feeling, that it could help me concentrate as easy as breathing. The moblin's movement was slow, easy to follow, as if time slowed itself. I didn't know what was going on with me, but it didn't matter then. All I knew was that then and there I could kill the beast with ease.

It's claws were swinging toward me. Seeing this, I ducked under the first swipe and dodged the second by jumping to the left. The claw crashed into the ground, so I seized the opportunity to strike back. I ran up the moblin's arm, scarring its skin with the blade-end of the spear as I ran up. After scarring the whole forearm I leapt off and went straight for his head. Seeing this the moblin attempted to punch me out from mid-air. At this point a part of me knew it was hopeless to get through, but nothing paid any attention to me. My body rejected me, and went for a failed attempt to attack through the moblin's offensive strike. At least I thought it was a failed attempt, for when my spear and the monster's fist collided the first thing I saw was blood spilling out and a hand falling swiftly to the floor. Next thing I knew, I stood on the moblin's head with my spear driven into its skull. I woke up from that trance I was in during the whole fight, and saw what I did._What the hell? _cam to mind, after seeing blood all over and myself standing on the beast's head.

The moblin fell back, and I lost footing on the body's head. I fell the other way, landing onto my back. The moblin made an impact onto the floor by shaking it, making a bit more of debree that fell from the already unstable ceiling. I looked at everything and saw destruction all over the throne room. The red carpet was ripped to shreds of fabric, with stone blocks and broken stone pieces around the room. The walls were destroyed, every painting either damaged or crushed by the debree. The red curtains on the wall over the portraits were ripped like the carpet, and the golden brown walls were now grey from the dust from the broken stone. the only clean and stable place was the throne area at the opposite end from the door. It was chaos in here, nothing else. What baffled me more was me; _what the hell happened to me back there, during the fight with that moblin? _I wanted to know. _If I could do whatever I did back there again, then I could protect myself even better, _I thought to myself. _But then how can I do it if I don't know what it was?_

I heard applause from across the battered room. I looked to see who applauded, and it was the king. Nohanse walked toward me, with Zelda right behind him. She looked relieved, probably from knowing the fight was over. The king, on the other hand, was just satisfied, not even being the least bit worried about my safety.

"Bravo, Lee," he called out, still aplauding. "I had my doubts, but you are certainly the one we've been looking for. Glad to have you with us, my boy."

"What the hell was this, Nohanse?!" I asked furiously. "Yoou knew that having me fight this thing without even a weapon was suicide, and yet you made me stand up against it. Did you want to get rid of me that badly, at the expense of your own throne room?!"

"Lee, please stop," Zelda said softly. Luckily I heard her, regardless of how loud I was shouting and showing my anger to the king. Remembering what my father taught me about being a man, I listened to Zelda and stopped the spazzing.

"My boy, you misunderstand," the king hesitantly explained. "It was not that I wanted to kill you, far from it. The only way that we could tell if you were really the Guardian of the Triforce is if we put you in extreme danger. If we gave you a true reason to use your absolute strength, it will awaken. We took into account that you would be inexperienced so we had to make sure it was highly dangerous."

_So you decided to unleash ultimate doom on me?! Just where the hell do you come up with this idea?! _Nonetheless, though, it didn't matter anymore. I survived the fight and now I can rest.

"Now we must depart." Nohanse called a guard who responded by running to him and standing in attention. "Please get 3 of my good horses ready for departure." The guard then saluted and ran out of the room in haste. I became confused, after hearing him say departure. _Where could we be going now? Why are we going at this moment, when I just want to rest? When will this day be over so that I don't have to ask myself so many damn, freakin' questions?!_

Nohanse continued to walk. "Please come, Lee. We must make haste."

"First tell me where we're going," I asked demandingly, awaiting an answer.

"We must go to the Temple of Time, so that you may complete the second trial and to see if you are truly who we've been searching for." the king sounded so overly dramatic, like he was telling a story. I heard that his majesty was sometimes strange in numerous ways, but all in all he was a good man, fun to be with if he feels like having a good time. _Wait a sec,_ I wondered. _Why would we be going to the Temple of Time?_

The king was exiting the room through the bronze doors, as I quickly followed him. _Whatever it was that his majesty was planning, I hope it's easier than fighting a huge piece of crap-looking moblin. I do not wanna see those again, ever._

_- - - - -_

We enetered the stable, and all I could think about was how bad the place stunk. Well, it was a stable, but it was nothing that I've ever smelled before. However, the large stables presented itself much cleaner than its smell does; the stables had stacks of clean, yellow hay piled on top of each other, and the walkways through the stables were clear of anything, especially of horse dung. Any stable you go to, you'll always step into an animals crap, but in here it was like it's impossible to do that if you even wanted to, not like I did. There were also many breeds of horses, almost too many to count. When I saw the exit to outside the stables, three white horses were at the ready. They were elegant creatures, white as snow, and their manes were the same snow white colour. It's like they were carved from the clear white ice you see around Zora River during the winter, with the exception that they don't melt. If you ever get the chance to see the river in winter, you won't regret it. It's a sight to see, much like these horses.

There was also a horse coming toward the stables. It was a black horse, with full-plated armour of a polished black. A man was riding on the horse, with black, polished armour just like the horse he was riding. His helmet, also the same colour, had a sort of a red mane hanging down his back to his shoulder blades. It had golden incrusted designs on the breastplate and arm and leg guards. It was the armour of the Hyrulean General, something my father would have been weaing if he survived to this day.

He stopped at the stable entrance and exit, and dismounted from his horse as a servant of the stables took the horse to get it cleaned up and ready for another ride when the time comes for it. He took off his helmet, and to my surprise the man who wore the armour of the Hyrulean General was none other than a male Gerudo, a thief despised by many people of Hyrule. Why would such a man wear that armour? It made no sense to me. He was no Hylian, no man who deserved the armour. Why would he be given permission to wear it? It might be okay with the king, but I didn't like it one bit.

"Ah, Sir Ganondorf, welcome back," Nohanse greeted him with a warm smile. "I assume that your meeting went well with your tribe."

"I cannot say, your majesty," the Gerudo man explained. "They aren't easy to convince to join forces with us. However, they have agreed to think the issue over. They will have an answer ready for us by the end of the week."

"That's excellent news, General," the king satisfyingly said. That's when the man eyed me, giving me a weird feeling and an unusual chill up my spine. I don't know what it was about him that made me feel startled by his appearance, but I didn't like the feeling.

"Pardon my interruption, your majesty, but I wasn't informed of a new stable boy working in our stables."

_What the hell did he mean, stable boy! _That's when I took into account that I still wore the torn up tunic and ripped pants. My filthy appearance made me look more like a street urchin, which was what I lived like for the past 10 years. Heck, it would even fool me into thinking the same thing he thought. Could you blame him?

"General, show some respect," Nohanse responded more seriously but with the same warm, joking kind of gesture he showed me awhile ago. "This boy here is the one we've been looking for."

"You don't mean..." Ganondorf paused, then looked at me with a look of shock. He looked into my eyes, which gave me an eerie feeling in my gut. I heard him mutter something, but all I heard was, "Those eyes." _What could he mean by that? _ I never seen him in my life, but he acted like he knew me. _Who was this man?_ I wondered about this man. _Who could he be?_

"Yes, this is the boy," the king explained. "He is the Guardian of the Triforce."

"I see," Ganondorf paid close attention to me, almost giving me the impression that he has something against me. _What did I do to him? _I didn't like where this was going.

He then put out his hand, wanting to shake mine. "It is a pleasure to meet you finally, Sir..."

"The name's Lee," I replied with a boastful tone, knowing that I had superiority over him. I shook his hand, and smiled, trying to hide my distaste for him. I didn't know why, like many things that happened that day, but he didn't seem friendly, no matter how well he was pulling off the whole mannerly routine.

"Sir Lee, is it?" We then let go of each other's hands. "Well, I see that you are still alive after fighting that hideous beast. I hope you succeed in completing the second trial." He went on his way after bowing in front of the king to excuse himself. We sat onto the sattles, with 4 Royal Guards accompanying us, and we set off to the Temple of Time without further delay, so that I may prove to be the Guardian of the Triforce, or fail and live as the street urchin I was before this day started.

* * *

The Soldier armour is much different, as I have said before. However, it depends on which race which armour is which. Hylians wear plate mail, whereas Zoras wear water resistant chainmail overlapped with thin plate mail so that their movement in water isn't restricted. Gorons don't wear any armour due to their thick hide, however they do wear helms carved from thick and nearly-indestructible rock. 

Hylian armour changes colour depending on which basic rank they are in. Soldiers wear dark blue plate mail, whereas their commanding officer (depending on which squad, which are many) wears grey armour. The General of the Hylian army wears pure black armour, and the General of the Hyrulean army, who leads all armies from every race (which is why he's called the General of the Hyrulean army), wears black armour with golden-incrusted designs on the breastplate, arm and leg guards, as well as the helm. Red hair also hangs from under the back of the helm. Since this armour has been around for many years, and is kept in very good shape all the time, no one knows where the hair was taken from.


	5. A Second Side to All of Us

Dun dun-dun-dun, dun dun dun dun dun dun, dun dun-dun-dun, dun dun-dun-dun, dun dun-dun-dun, dun dun dun dun dun dun dun-dun-dun!

I present to you, CHAPTER 4!

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**Chapter IV**

**A Second Side to All of Us**

The Temple of Time was a place of emmaculate beauty, standing very tall in the very center of Hyrule, seen by all of the land from far away. The white-stone walls look unusually clean as if the temple was built just a day ago. The blue marble rooftops of the temple dimly reflected the sun's radiance. The courtyard at the foot of the stairs leading to the entrance were lush and green, no blade of grass dried up nor showing any signs of becoming brown anytime soon. It was as if time didn't exist here, which may be why it was called the Temple of Time; the temple never seemed to age at all. The walls surrounding the temple and courtyard, made with the same stone as the temple walls, stood tall and strong to protect the grand structure. The sages have created an edifice that could make anyone gaze upon it with great inferiority, but the outside did not come close to comparing with what was inside. What was said to be housed inside was the golden relic itself, the Triforce, housed in a chamber that was sealed off and protected by a large slab of stone called the Door of Time. I knew the trip had something to do with the Triforce. _Maybe I finally get to obtain it, _I thought to myself. It was a great wish I had, because it was such an overwhelming idea that I could be able to harness such infinite power. I anticipated the whole way there for it. It was too exciting to be so calm about.

We halted to a stop at the large gate into the courtyard. The stone doors looked strong, unable to move no matter how much force could be used to push it open. I wondered how they'd open the doors, but something unexpected happened.

"Zelda," Nohanse called out. He looked at her with a serious expression on his face. Zelda hesitated for a moment before she got off her horse and walked to the stone doors. When she walked past me, I saw a look of fear on her face. Just what is she about to do, I wondered strongly.

Zelda placed her right hand on the slit between the stone doors. Closing her eyes the princess breathed slowly and steadily. I watched with curiosity as to what she was about to do. Soon after light was emmitted from under her hand on the doors. It wasn't long when the doors just opened up with ease, but she didn't feel all that well when I saw her fall down to her knees in exhaustion. Seeing this, I became quickly worried and dismounted from my horse to aid her to her feet.

"Are you ok, your highness?" I asked concerned.

"I already told you," Zelda replied, sounding tired. "You don't have to call me that."

"Here, let me he..." and she pushed my hand away, getting up herself. I didn't know what I did wrong that she had to ignore my aid to her, but I must've done something to piss her off before.

"We have to get inside the temple, Lee," Zelda forcibly said through the fatigue she gained after opening the doors, with whatever she did. "We cannot waste time."

I got up myself, and followed Zelda. The king and the four guards who accompanied us followed behind, still on their horses. The other two horses were taken by one of the guards so that they didn't wander off. The king didn't look like he had any sort of concern for his daughter's safety, which pissed me off a bit. He was Zelda's father, he should've been concerned for her. I don't know if he was just trying to have faith in her safety, or he just didn't care, but he had no intention of helping her at all. Something was definetely going on, and I needed to know what.

My thoughts washed away as I noticed something very odd. When I entered through the gate the temple was not as magnificent as it was before. The sky was black, no light from the sun, and the temple lost its emmaculate radiance. The courtyard had brown grass instead of the lush green grass that it was supposed to have. It did not give that "new" look, since the temple looked more like a dungeon. Nothing past the temple gates had any logic to it. Outside the temple gates, the walls were as white as snow, and the rooftops were always lustrous, but inside it was as if it aged a thousand years. _Just what is going on_, I wondered incomprehensibly. Once again, my day was becoming more and more perplexed every moment time passed by.

"Lee, we must go on," Zelda commanded me, grabbing my attention. "We cannot waste time here."

"A-alright, I'm coming," I replied. She sounded serious about getting inside, so I didn't want to get her angered. It was strange, though, that the princess acted so serious. Before, in the bedroom, she acted timid and gentle, all innocent-like and kind-hearted. Watching her with such an attitude was like watching rain fall up; it just wasn't normal.

Nohanse dismounted from the horse with the aid of a guard. The guards also dismounted from their horses, following the king up the steps. he ordered two of his men to watch the oustide and guard the entrance. The other two were ordered to follow him inside. However we couldn't enter because, just as the gate, we cannot open it by simply pushing it open. That's when Zelda did the same procedure. I became more curious as to what she was doing, but at the same time afraid for her safety. It drained more of her energy, and made her more tired. Just what was she doing? After that, she fell again to her knees. I went to her aid, but again she pushed my hand away. I felt like I lost her trust, but I hardly did anything to her.

"Quickly, we must get inside, Lee," she said, in her demanding tone. She was in such a hurry, I began to get a bad feeling about this trial. Needless to say, though, my anticipation was growing more and more as we delayed our entrance into the Temple of Time, but my anticipation became fear when I saw the inside.

The inside was the same as the outside, except it was, well, inside. The halls were massive in size and dark, and the windows served no purpose as well, but fortunately there were chandeliers overhead that emitted just enough light for us to see where we were going. Every sound made, no matter how soft it was, could create such a loud echo that would almost sound as if something enormous was walking toward you. The walls were brittle and looked like they were about to fall apart and collapse the temple on top of you. What made that even worse was that tiny debris was falling from the ceiling, notifying me that it was about to fall. The dark shadows in the hall shrouded much of the room off to the side, giving me an uncomfortable feeling that something was about to jump out and attack. It made no sense to me. Why did such an enormous structure fall so easily. Why is it that time just seemed to go a thousand years into the future once my foot stepped through the gate? Maybe it was time itself, but was there any significance to it all? Or was it all random occurences that I was witnessing?

As we approached the Door of Time, the king stopped and his men did the same, as Zelda approached the door. The king stayed a good distance away from the door, like something will explode from behind the door or something as dangerous. Zelda took a deep breath, and began concentrating her energy on the large door. I became frightened even more, because it was such a large door compared to the other ones she opened, and those ones before took a fair amount of energy from her. From the looks of things, seeing the king far behind Zelda, I had a feeling that she might not make it out on her own two feet.

The door successfully opened, and Zelda turned around to look at me with a faint smile, followed by falling from dizziness. Seeing this I reacted quickly and jumped to her rescue. I caught her before she hit the ground, and held her head up. Her face was unusually pale, and her skin was abnormally cold. She didn't seem to have fainted like any normal person would. It's as if she was dead, but thankfully that wasn't the case since I heard her breathing. I needed to get her out of the temple, and fast.

"Lee, we must go on," Nohanse demanded. "We cannot waste any time at all."

He wanted me to go through the Door of Time, but where was his concern for his own daughter? Anger built up inside from hearing nothing about his daughter, who was lying down from severe exhaustion, and who needs help.

"What the hell is wrong with you!?" I asked furiously. "Your daughter fainted from exhaustion, and she needs help now! All I hear coming out of your mouth is, 'We have to keep going,' but where is your concern for your daughter?" I looked at him with distaste. "You're her father. Act like one!"

My anger became soothing relief when I felt her hand touch my face. I looked at her, and she looked at me. Even when she's feeling cold, her smile is the only warm and calming thing that appears.

"My father is right, you must press forwrad," she said with a weak voice. "If you don't continue, you won't be able to achieve what is rightfully yours."

I looked at her incredulously. "But you need help. I can't think of myself at a time like this!"

"I'll be fine," Zelda assured me. "Just forget about me and go."

I hated the idea, but I could never go against a lady's word. I gently put her head down, and ran forward instead of walking to quickly conclude the trial. I ran toward the end of the hall, to where light shone brightly. I knew that that was where I had to go, so I ran faster. When I got to the end, surprise and shock crept up onto me.

At the top of a small flight of stairs, standing from a pedestal, was the Master Sword. It was the blade used by the hero, who wore the green tunic, during the war that nearly wiped out all of Hyrule. It was that same blade that struck down the Evil King and ended that same war. No Triforce, no golden relic floating in the air talked about in legends. Just the Master Sword, something that could never be touched by anyone other than a descendant of the hero. _Then why was I here?_

"What are you waiting for, my boy?" shouted an impatient voice. Nohanse came running into the room, with his guards following behind. "Pull the blade out, quickly!"

"Are you insane?" I replied distressed. "Only a descendant of the hero could pull it out. If someone else tries to pull it out, then..."

"Do not waste time!" The king became irritated. "You are wasting too much time, and my daughter needs you to quickly pull it out before it's too late for her!"

I began having bad feelings about the whole idea. If I touched the hilt of the sword, my life would be drained from my body and added to the sword. If I didn't do it, Zelda's life could be in jeopardy because of my cowardice. It was a lose-lose choice, but I was brought here to pull this sword out. I had no choice.

I had my hand ready to pull it out. I took a few quick breaths to keep calm before I attempted to take the sword out. After a short moment, I did it all in one motion; I grabbed the sword's hilt, and pulled it out with all my strength. Next thing I knew, light came from the blade and shrouded everything in pure light. It only took a few seconds before I could see anything, and what I saw were white walls with windows that let light into the halls. The floor was made of white tiles, with a black, carpet-like path from the pedestal, all the way down the hall. I first thought it was a totally different place, but I soon realized it was the same temple I was in since the beginning. I was bewildered by the events, but I was glad it was all over.

"You finally did it, my boy. You have obtained the blade of evil's bane; the Master Sword."

I fel the sword giving its power to me. It was a long blade, meant to be held with two hands. The blue hilt was long enough so that I may use it properly. On the blade was the Triforce engraved onto it, as well as text. It read, "Power, Wisdom, Courage," on one side, and the other said, "Blade of Purity." It sang to me as I swung it through the air. It was just stunning in my opinion to see such a blade in my hand.

But despite my pride over this magnificent weapon, my attention turned towards Zelda, who was still lying down on the floor. My attention turned to her safety, so I quickly went to her aid. I ran through the hall, but when I got to the Door of Time, Zelda was nowhere to be seen. I knew very well that she was in no condition to leave on her own, however there were guards here to look after her. I figured she was taken outside to get some fresh air and get better as I was in here. Then the king came to the main hall, and became confused,

"Where are they?" he rhetorically asked, perplexed by the sight of his guards' disappearances. "I specifically said to stay here while they waited. What is this disobedience from the Royal Guards of Hyrule?"

Hearing that from the king, I wasn't liking what was going on. Suddenly, just when I thought it couldn't get any worse,

"Come out from there, your majesty!" I heard a voice call. "We're waiting patiently for you, so don't keep us waiting!"

- - - - -

Once outside, the first thing I saw was that the sky was blue and the sun shone. The grass was also lush and green, not dead like it was before. I then noticed all the guards on the floor, dead and covered in their own blood. It wasn't until I heard a sinister laugh that I noticed bandits surrounding both Nohanse and I. They were all wearing worn-down armour, each holding a variety of weapons, from spears and halberds to swords and maces. One of them stood out the most since he sat on a horse; on of the white horses that we rode on.

"So, this is the kid we were told about," the bandit said, disgruntled. "You look nothing more than just a shit-covered street rat."

"Where is she!?" I ordered. "Where is Zelda!?"

"Oh, you mean her?" Two men came from behind, holding Zelda by her arms. She still seemed weak from opening the doors, unable to stand on her own. The bandits holding her were ruthless, forcing Zelda to stand up regardless of her condition.

"Let her go, you bastard!" I demanded. "Or else..."

"Or else what?" the bandit, supposedly their leader, taunted me. "You don't look like you'd be worth my time, but I was given a great deal for your dead body."

All the bandits around me had their weapons in a ready position, impatient to attack me. The sheathing of swords and the stretching of bow strings made me feel afraid to figh them all, but I coudn't have let them hurt the princess. It was either my life or her's, and I wasn't willing to lose her life over me.

"Ok, boys. Rip him apart!" The leader yelled. "And leave the king alive. He isn't ours for the taking, yet."

Their battle cries made my blood rush, but the feeling was too powerful to ignore. I couldn't do anything except to embrace the feeling, and I soon felt relaxed. It was a familiar feeling, but too strange to think so. Nonetheless, I used it to my advantage, and knew I was ready to take them on.

I collided with a sword, blocking the attack that was directed to my side, and went after him with an upward slash. The same went for the next attack that came to my head; I blocked the spear from hitting me, and countered with a horizontal swipe to the stomach. I ducked a few swipes, and blocked multiple strikes that were initially for my back, stomach, chest, head, or neck, and I countered them all with attacks of my own. Swords shattered at the might of my blade, and arrows hit nothing but the ground and the stone wall protecting the temple courtyard. Blood flowed like a raging river in a storm, falling from the bodies of the slain. It was bloodshed, but I was happy. I could not control myself, and I became hungry for more victims to cut apart. It was nothing but insanity. It wasn't the urge to save Zelda, nor was it to protect myself from death, but it was pure carnage. What made it worse was my need to find more people to kill. I wasn't myself, just like when I fought the moblin in the castle. I was losing myself, but to what? To myself, or to something

Once the last drop of blood fell to the ground, after all the bandits had fallen, the leader became frightened. The two bandits who held Zelda captive ran off in fear of dying, leaving the one in charge with no way of possibly winning the fight.

"Don't come any closer," he exclaimed hesitantly. He grabbed Zelda by her hair, and held a knife to her throat. "If you come any closer, I'll slit her throa..."

His threat was interrupted by my blade. I threw my sword into his heart, right through his chest. He fell from the horse, slightly twitching as he slowly died. The bloodshed was finally over after he became nothing more than a slain corpse.

I came out of the carnal state I was in, and saw all the bodies lying on the ground, the grass painted with blood. I fell to my knees from the traumatic scene I created, unable to have stopped it. I knew it was happening, i witnessed every move I made during the fight, and I didn't stop it._What's happening to me?_

"Lee! Lee, are you alright?"

Zelda called out to me, shaking me to wake me up and get my attention. After finally waking up, I looked at her with fear.

"I killed them. All of them."

"I know."

"I killed them all, and I enjoyed it. I know they were trying to kill us, but they were still human!"

"I know," she said again. "Get your sword. I'll explain everything on the way back."


	6. The Iron Will of a Gentle Lady

I'm so very sorry for the wait, and I know it makes me look like a liar to promise that I'll update the story sooner and sooner than before. I'll just be honest: I take a long time to get to working on the next chapter, and sometimes it's for no reason. However, I'll try to _start_ working on the next one sooner than usual. Hope you guys like it, it's extra long to make up for the wait (at least longer than the other chapters, that is).

By the way, Happy New Year from Ontario, Canada!

* * *

**Chapter V**

**The Iron Will of a Gentle Lady **

People of Hyrule Castle Town crowded the streets in the center of the town. The shops were closed and every other place was empty and deserted. Everyone was too anxious for the event to start, as everyone pushed and shoved each other to beat the rest to a good view. It was strange. What was happening?

I pushed my way through the huge crowd of townfolk, and luckily made it to the front. There was a wooden block with scars on the top surface in the center, and a man in a black cloak with a hood over his head to hide his identity. He held a large ax in front of him, the heavy ax head on the ground. It looked to be pretty old and stained with blood. It was no doubt an executioner's ax, so I began to wonder about who might it be that'll finally be rid of. Maybe it might be that cheap-ass bastard, Oslaf, who was arrested awhile back when he was caught stealing from nobles with his bargaining style of sly deals. It could possibly be that heartless murderer, Zalman, who claimed many lives until he was taken by the guards. It could also be that seducing bitch, Raisa, who I heard tempted a high ranking soldier to plot against the king until she was finally stopped before more could be done by her. My mind wondered about who would be brought to justice.

A brown and well-polished wagon came from the castle, pulled by 2 horses, carrying the prisoner in the back. I didn't get a good view of who it was until the person was forced off the wagon by one of the guards nearby. It was a young girl, looking a lot to be my age, with a light mahogany-toned skin colour and round ears, not like Hylian ears which were pointed. She had a thin physique, short, messy rust-coloured hair, and was dressed in a short dress made from some sort of animal hyde, with an opening along the side. She appeared to be a warrior, probably a Gerudo warrior judging by her physical appearance, not to mention her ears which really resembled a Gerudo female. The strange part about it all was that I didn't know her name. I didn't know her name, where she was from, why she's been arrested, or any sort of thing like that. Usually it would be announced whether someone was arrested, who they are, what they look like, when will they be executed, regardless of a person's stature, whether it be noble or peasent, kind or ruthless, honest or deceitful. Not one bit of information was announced to the public at anytime beforehand about this girl. This sort of thing would be considered unusual, and it as sure as hell was. Did she do something that terrible? Did she belong to someone from a different land?_ Just what the hell is going on with this? _

I was also shocked because it was a girl. Like I said sometime before, my father taught me about respect and chivalry to a woman. Those lessons kind of made me feel guilty to watch a girl my age become a corpse, but I knew that if she must be brought to justice, I must let it be.

Her shackled wrists were released from behind her, and she was chained again to the wooden block. Her arms were bound to either side of the block, rendering her unable to escape. The guards moved away so that the executioner would do his duty. Now that was something that also caught my eye. The executioner was smaller, shorter, not so big to be the "executioner" type. It was awefully weird, but if this was how it should've went, then I should just watch the rest of it.

That was until I noticed the hooded executioner.

He took the hood off, pulling it back from his head. His dirty blond hair moved in the wind passing by, uncovering his face. It was a terrifying sight to see, for it was someone I dare not believe it to be.

He held his large ax in his hands, and held it overhead to swing down upon the girl's head. I was still in shock, unable to snap out of it. The ax was brought down onto the girl's head, but before anything else happened, I opened my eyes.

I quickly got up from the surprise of the events, only to find myself on a wagon myself. I soon remembered that we found those farmers passing by the temple when we called out for their aid. Luckily for us they were there, but the wagon was dirty and had a very bad odour around it. The wagons also looked very old, almost as if to fall apart any moment we didn't expect it. However, it was either the wagons or traveling by foot, and no one was up for that.

The sun was slowly setting off into the horizon, leaving behind its orange-gold radiance in the skies, and a faint purple tint on the clouds overhead before nightfall. It was a bit cooler than the previous days at this time, due to the upcoming winter, but it was nothing I couldn't handle. Well, I could handle it, but Zelda was a different story altogether.

I noticed her sleeping, leaning on the walls of the wagon opposite from where I sat. The king was on the other wagon, which lead the way in front of us. I couldn't blame the princess for sleeping, though; it was a tiring day for her, especially with me around. I started to think that without me around, she might have it easier...

- - - - -

"What's going on with me?" I demanded.

"You're changing, Lee, and it's not going to stop."

"What in Hell are you talking about?"

She looked away from my face, scared to say what she knew. It didn't stop me from finding out the truth.

"I asked you a question!" I hit the wall of the wagon with my fist in anger. "You know the answer to it, so I want you to tell me!"

"The Triforce is forcing you to decide your fate, Lee," the princess replied worriedly. "It wants you to decide how you will use its power."

"The Triforce?" It was a surprise to hear that. Back at the temple, there was no Triforce, no relic floating in the middle of the room, nothing at all, except the Master Sword, which leaned against the wagon's wall beside me.

"I don't understand. I saw nothing except this sword. No Triforce, no ultimate power, just this sword in its pedestal. What kind of crap are you telling me?!"

"The Triforce's power is linked to that sword, Lee." Zelda was stuttering, possibly out of fear from me and my arrogance. "The Master Sword is the link to the Triforce, which the golden relic sends its power through it to you."

I understood her explanation, but my curiosity wasn't satisfied still.

"You haven't answered my question!" I pounded against the wall I leaned against. "Why am I feeling this weird power in me? Why do I thirst for blood?" This was when I seriously lost it, after I grabbed the princess by her shoulders vigorously. She became scared of me, practically fearing for her life.

"You know everyting that's been going on, since that moment we set eyes on each other. You know exactly what I'm talking about, and you better damn tell me before I FORCE IT OUT OF YOU!"

She looked away, scared shitless, but I was too blind from my rage to notice it.

"I already told you," Zelda explained softly out of fear, tears pouring down her face. "The Triforce wants you to decide how you will use its power. I cannot say more."

"Why the Hell not!?" I couldn't control myself. "You know, don't you? I can tell you know. I've been living like shit for long nough to know when someone's throwing shit in my face, especially like the shit you're spitting in my face!" My grip became tighter on her shoulders, hurting her as she let out a small "ouch" from under her breath. I wasn't sure if the wagon's stench was getting to me, or if_it _was happening again, whatever _it _was.

"I can't tell you, so please stop it!"

"Why should I stop, huh? Why should I listen to you. You, of all people, who should be the next in line to rule over Hyrule, throwing bullshit at me with your lies! Why should I listen to you?" My voice was booming loud enough to disturb the farmer at the front, who was steering the horses pulling the wagon.

"Can you two stop shouting?" He turned around, ordering me to stop. I, on the other hand, didn't bother to listen to him. Instead, I replied back with fury in my voice.

"You should just stay out of our business, and keep an eye on the road, you stupid peasent!"

With a distasteful expression on his face, he turned around, grumbling to himself. I quickly turned to Zelda, continuing with my terror on the princess.

"You better tell me, or I'll... I'll..."

"You'll do what? _Kill_ me?" Zelda fought back with her anger, which unusually came out of nowhere. "Fine, do that, I don't care anymore! My life has been full of hardships as well, even if they weren't like yours." Her eyes were filled with pain, but not pain I knew of. She suffered from something far from normal pain, as far as I could have known.

She continued, "You never had the chance to watch someone die, especially a gruesome death. You never had the chance to see your father die in battle, or your fellow neighbours in DaMar die during that raid of monsters that day, when you fled. I know you left. I know simply because it would've been foolish for you to stay when they were going after you. You might have felt guilty to leave them behind, but you were lucky to have not witnessed their deaths."

"What are you talking about?" I replied threateningly.

"I had to watch them die! I had to watch their blood be spilled as they fought a hopeless fight! You never had to watch what I did, and you better think yourself lucky because of it!"

Zelda began talking in a much calmer voice. her head fell forward from exhaustion of her outburst.

"And you know what made the pain feel worse? Why I could never forget such incidents?" She paused, trying hard not to let her sadness interfere. "Those young men died because of my mistakes."

- - - - -

I noticed Zelda began shivering from the cold. For a moment I thought she was awake, but I saw that she was much too tired to wake up so simply. However, it did bother her, so I guess you could say I felt pity towards her, in a sense. I took off my tunic, ripped it down the middle of the front, and placed it over Zelda as a blanket to keep her a bit warmer. It was better than nothing, and she needed it more than I did. It was the least I could do for her, after what I did to her awhile ago.

- - - - -

"What are you telling me?" I asked with blind hate, unable to notice her tears. "What do you mean I'm 'lucky'?"

A moment of silence came about, until Zelda decided to speak.

"Before you, before bringing you to the castle, there were others." She wiped her tears with her gloved hand before continuing. "I had searched for many people who were possibly the ones we looked for, and every time we found one I became happy, but afraid as well, because I knew in my gut that they weren't him."

"So you're saying there were others?"

I let go of her, and sat back to listen to the rest. Zelda sat with her head down, speaking quietly to hide her sadness.

"I was so sure that we finally found them, and it made me relieved to feel so. It went on like that for a moment, until the time came for the trials to begin."

Zelda closed her hands into fists, becoming angrier. She spoke through clenched teeth.

"They died at the hands of that beast, their bodies crushed by that monster's strength. Those few who did survive, however, had the worst possible fate, much worse than becoming just a corpse. Even corpses leave behind something in the world."

I was about to ask her what she meant when she said that, but my attention turned toward the sword next to me. I soon knew what she spoke about.

"You don't mean...?"

"The Master Sword knows its wielder, and knows who isn't. If someone dares to touch the sword with their hand, their spirit will break and shatter, becoming infused into the sword. They will be as if they never lived, for their soul would be nothing more than just a power gained by the blade."

_Holy shit... _it was a scary thought to have, knowing that your existence would have ceased to exist. Back at the temple, it was a risky move to make knowing that, but for Zelda's sake I had no choice. It was either me, or her, and I knew I could never risk a lady's life for my own. As my father always told me..._ hey, wait a sec! Only someone with a certain connection to the hero could pull the sword out, so why was I able to pull it? _I pondered on the subject for only a small moment, before I turned my attention to Zelda.

Her face was hidden by her blonde hair, but could tell she was saddened by what I've done. I was such an idiot to have done that; I was foolish to have scared her and yelled at her, demanding what she couldn't tell me, or what she didn't know. I felt stupid, and I knew I should have felt so. I deserved to feel guilt, and I deserved no forgiveness from her, so I had no intention of asking for any. _What can I do?_

- - - - -

I felt Zelda moving a bit, probably waking up from her slumber on my arm. All it happened to be was just a small movement in her sleep yet again, so I just ignored it and let her rest on me. I knew it wasn't much to do for her, but I figured it was better than her sleeping on the hardwood wagon. I allowed her to sleep on me, as I reminisced on the day's events.

- - - - -

"Why did you act so independent back at the temple?" I asked, afraid to hurt her however it might happen.

She looked up, gazing at me with a perplexed look.

"What do you mean?" The princess asked me.

"You were ignoring my help before, back at the temple," I replied, explaining to her. "You seemed so serious, not like before. You were determined, if nothing else. You rejected my aid, you demanded you walked alone, no help from anyone." I looked away from embarrassment, thinking I was bothering her with my question. "I was confused. You didn't seem like the..."

"Strong kind?" She finished it off for me, as if she looked in my head.

"Y-yeah, pretty much," I replied looking back at her, startled. "You seem so much like the gentle, loving kind of person. I didn't know you had such strength in you. Such... risky behaviour." I looked at her, waiting for her to explain. She did not speak right away, but after a small moment she decided to explain herself.

"I was always told I shouldn't do what men were meant to do," the princess looked back into her past. "I was always told by father's subjects that, 'A lady should never fight back, but avoid fighting', or , "A lady mustn't do dangerous tasks. She must always leave it to those who are meant to do such things'. I want to do something good and not just sit by and let others do something for me, even if it means risking my own life."

"You did it out of those you watched die, didn't you?"

Zelda looked at me with a startled expression. I knew I said something stupid, so I quickly took the chance to turn the tide of her emotions.

"I'm sorry, your highness," I replied apologetically. "I did not mean to say that. It was rude of me."

"No, it's alright Lee," she said. "It's just as you say. I did not want to sit by and let others do something, or else it will all force me to remember those horrible times. I must do what I must for those who need my aid and guidance, even if I must lose my life for it."

"That is why I did that for you, Lee, back at the Temple of Time."

She smiled, and it gave me a warm feeling inside. To know she could smile with such sadness in her, it made me feel good. However, I still regret what I did to her before.

"I opened the doors for you with my life as the key. I used a bit of my soul to open the door. Before we used a special key made from the power of the gods. but I decided to use myself as a key for you."

"Why?" I asked, bewildered. "Why would you use yourself for me? If you had a key, why would you risk your life?"

"Because I saw something else in you, Lee." Zelda closed her eyes as she remembered the past. "Not like the others. Those before you did not deserve to die, but most were selfish, boastful, cowards, and they took too much pride and did not know what what right and what was wrong. It might have been because they were initially from a noble family." The princess opened her eyes to look at me with her sapphire blue eyes. "In you, I saw honesty, courage, modesty, and the will to fight for what you know is right and wrong. You know justice, and you know what must be done to achieve it."

"So you saw that it was a good enough reason to throw away your life?"

The princess looked at me with surprise. "I did not decide to throw away my life, but to use it for that purpose. I wanted to show the gods, and my father, that I was strong and that I would do anything for my land. I wanted to show them that even a lady can do something that men are 'supposed' to do. I am not weak, and I am no coward. I will fight for Hyrule, even if my life will be lost for that cause."

- - - - -

I closed my eyes, remembering those small conversations. _I was totally wrong about her_, I realized. I felt stupid about my first thoughts on Princess Zelda. She wasn't the timid, gentle girl I saw back in the castle. She went through so many trials in her life, so many crap incidents, that she became a warrior in a sense. She is strong-willed and determined to fight for her people, to fight for the right causes. She knows what must be done, and she refuses to surrender without a fight. She would even risk her very life for another, regardless of place in society, whether it be peasent or noble. She would even risk her life for me, a cruel and disrespectful man, and I could never forget something like that. I'm nothing like her, not one bit like her. What I really admired about her was that she took the worry out of me about the sudden violent occurrences I've been having, almost making it feel as if it never happened.

I also laughed at the whole idea I had before, where I thought it was all a lie I just decided to participate in. I thought to myself, no way in Hell am I what she says, so I decided to just play along and get back to my normal life. Now I know that it was no lie, and I played the part of a fool. Whats more was that Zelda had faith in me from the very beginning. She had faith that I would accomplish the trials I had to endure. She might have had second thoughts on it, but she never gave up hope she had in me. She was almost like my mother.

- - - - -

"If you don't mind, princess, but why was everything the way it was at the temple."

"Before or after you pulled the Master Sword from the pedestal?" Zelda asked to be more certain of the question.

"Um... how about both?"

She smiled. This made me feel a bit better, knowing that she felt better than the moment before.

"Well, it is truly complicated to explain, but to simply put it, time was controlled."

"Controlled?" I asked with astonishment. "Controlled how?"

"The Master Sword is a blade of truly mysterious power," the princess explained. "You might have noticed how dark and frightening the Temple of Time looked on the out and inside. Do you know why?"

I nodded. She continued.

"The sword you now possess has the power to control time. When it was placed into the pedestal, it stopped time. Since the time the Master Sword was put into the pedestal, it stopped time during the aftermath of the war. However, it would interfere with all of the land and time would not exist. That is why you see a wall surrounding the temple now. That wall protects us from the power of the Master Sword, but now that you pulled the blade out, you now have brought time to the temple."

"Wow, that's really..."

"Amazing?"

"Yeah, pretty much."

- - - - -

"I'm so sorry, Lee," I heard her speak. I looked at her, noticing she was still asleep. I then thought she was having a dream, however she was unknowingly wide awake. "I lied to you before, not telling you the whole truth from the very beginning. I only wanted to protect you from your fate, but I did no such thing, and still you suffer from that curse you have. I wish none of this would happen. If only there was something I could do..."

"No, this was never your fault," I gently told her. "I was at fault, and you were not to blame for anything. I yelled at you, and you only fought back. I showed no respect for you, and you showed respect to me. You are princess of Hyrule, and I am nothing compared to you. You deserved better than what I gave you."

This was a shocking thing to hear. Why would she blame herself over what was clearly my fault? I believed her to be blinded from reality, maybe she was half asleep. But I knew she wasn't blind, only loving. Why would a loving person blame others? It was like my mother's way of showing love; she'd never put the blame on anyone, and she could never hold a grudge against anyone. Zelda was a prime example of my mother, and for that I had the utmost respect for her.

Zelda cuddled into my arm, moving around to find a comfortable position to lie down.

"You're so warm, Lee," Zelda complimented, ignoring the conversation at hand. "And thank you for the blanket."

"Actually, it's my tunic," I explained, smiling to her. She looked up, and did the same to me.

"Then thank you for your tunic," she corrected herself. "But are you sure you aren't cold?"

"Don't worry about me," I assured her. "I've been on my own for a long time now. I had to live harsh winters outside." This made me feel good, but guilty even more. She had no grudge against me, not one bit of hate towards me, and after all I've done to her before she could still smile to such a person like me. _She's definetely just like mother._

"Here we are, kids," I heard the farmer at the front call out. "We're back at the Castle Market Town!"

The outer walls appeared before us, standing strong and tall. By then it was getting darker, so the torches were lit along the wall.

I gently nudged Zelda to wake up so that we could get off the wagon. I took the Master Sword, and used the sleeves of my tunic to wrap around the blade and onto my back. The rest I allowed Zelda to use as a blanket. I got off the wagon first to help Zelda off, but when the princess was about to come off I decided to catch her and carry her all the way just as a nice gesture.

"What are you doing, Lee?" Zelda asked with a startled tone.

"What else? I'm gonna carry you."

"You shouldn't really do that," she tried to explain. "I'm not that tired, really. I can walk myself to the castle."

"You deserve it," I simply told her. "...Your highness."

She smiled, and I could tell she was blushing. However, she did good to hide it well for long enough. As much as I wanted to tease her about it, I knew that she was too tired to deal with anything at the moment, so I decided to let it go.

Nohanse got off the other, wagon in front of us, this time without any help. I walked to him, carrying the exhausted princess in my arms. I overheard the king talking to the farmer.

"Please, let me repay you for your troubles."

"Oh no, your majesty, we could not." The farmer was pleading the king. "We could never ask for anything from you."

"Nonsense!" the king exclaimed. "You deserve a reward. If you haven't come when you did, then we might have not survived. You must be compensated."

The king took out a large pouch from behind him. It was full of rupees, quite a lot from the size of it.

"Here, take this."

"No, we mustn't, your majesty."

"Please, take it," he insisted. "You need it more than I."

The farmer took the pouch from the king, bowing to him as thanks.

"Thank you very much, your majesty," he added. "You truly are a great king." With that, he hopped back onto the wagon and went with his family. I walked over to the king.

"That was real generous of you, Nohanse," I complimented.

"That was very nice of you to say, my boy," he thanked.

We both walked up to the entrance, and the king ordered the guards stationed at the entrance to open the gate. One of the guards called out to another on the wall, and the gate slowly opened. After it allowed us passage inside, guards waited to greet and walk us to the castle, one of them being Ganondorf. He walked to us, and bowed to the king. He had a serious look on his face. _This doesn't look good_.

"Your majesty, I have terrible news," he began to speak with worry in his voice.

"What happened, General?" the king ordered.

"Just before you arrived, one of our guards on patrol in the woods witnessed an attack of one of our own. Luckily he caught the killer, and brought her to the castle dungeon."

"That's good, General, but what of the guard?" the king worriedly asked the Gerudo man. "

"The witness brought him here, but the guard did not survive," Ganondorf explained with sorrow in his voice. "He died a couple of hours before your arrival, and what was even worse was that the other guard was murdered by the same murderer as well." The Gerudo man bowed his head down for a brief moment. "May his soul rest in peace."

"Yes, may they both," Nohanse added. "When will the execution take place?"

"We waited until you arrived so that we may discuss the issue further."

"Then let us go to the castle, before nightfall comes entirely," Nohanse replied in haste. "We must get home. My daughter and Lee are very tired from today."

Ganondorf noticed me with Zelda in my arms. He gave me a nasty look, and noticed the sword strapped to my back with the worn-out cloth of my tunic. I knew he hated me, and he hated me a lot. I wanted to know why, but I figured that guys like him just had no reason for hating. They just do.

"I see the boy has completed the trials at the temple," Ganondorf remarked.

"Yes, he has," the king replied with praise. "We finally found our Protector, it seems."

"I believe we have, your majesty."

He walked over to me, still giving me that nasty look in his eyes. I was getting uncomforting feelings about his presence around me, but I didn't want to be too suspicious around him. I didn't want him to think I hated him, even when he already might've known.

However, he did something quite opposite to what I believed. When he stopped in front of me, he went down on his knees and bowed down to me. Soon enough I had guards bowing down to me. All the people did the same, and what made it even freakier was that Nohanse, Hyrule's own ruler, had done the same. I was no royalty, not that important. I didn't deserve such respect, even from the king himself. It was too overwhelming for me.

"What the...?" I muttered, looking at them dumbfoundedly. "Why are they bowing down to me? Even the king... Why?"

"Because you have come, Lee," I heard the princess speak softly, still half asleep but well aware of what was happening. "Their savior has come to protect them once again."

The people of the city got up, as well as Ganondorf and Nohanse. Silence was the only sound I could hear, until I heard someone yell from the crowd.

"Our savior has returned! Let us cheer!"

Everyone shouted out to me, to praise me and cheer for my return. It made me feel welcome, after living on my own for 10 years. Before everyone rejected me and treated me like I was less than dirt. Now, knowing that I was important, as did everyone else, I felt at home with everyone. My honour felt restored, hearing the cries of joy from the people of the town.

_I hope you're proud; mother, father, I hope you now see me as a true man, with a true purpose._

* * *

**A/N: **As you might havve noticed, I made some mistakes I should have noticed before updating this story. If anyone sees this again, please call me an idiot and tell me that I've made a stupid mistake and I should fix it quickly. Just don't abuse the right of calling me an "idiot," ok? 


	7. Chaos in the Castle Walls Pt 1

Finally, after three or more months of total agony, I have completed the uncompleteded; finished the unfinisheded; did the unthinkable. I have finally, after long weeks of nothing, completed the long-awaited chapter 6.

Did I mention it's a 2-part chapter? ... oh crap, that means another three months. Oh, for crying out loud!

* * *

**Chapter 6**

**Chaos in the Castle Walls - Pt. 1**

"What did you say?" an agitated voice asked incredulously. "Do you mean to say that not only was it a woman, but she was also-"

"I'm afraid it is true, your excellency," the General interrupted. "I wish it wasn't so, but the gods have deemed it necessary to allow us such a fate."

"Do not bring blasphemy to my presence, General!" Nohanse yelled angrily, already shaken up by the news Ganondorf told him. The Gerudo man bowed apologetically, asking for forgiveness through his act of atonement.

"What do you feel we must do, your majesty? We cannot be hasty to bring her to be beheaded."

"I wish I knew, General." Nohanse sighed, falling back into his red-cushioned throne. He put his face into his hands, exhausted from the stress the problem had caused him. Zelda looked at him worriedly from her throne beside his, hoping her father will be all right.

I stood next to her highness, standing in an attention-like pose. As I watched the two men converse, I couldn't help but wonder about the problem myself. It was too strange of an occurrence that had happened during our absences from the castle. First off, Gerudos hunt in the west to avoid problems with running into Hylians on the roads, who travel along the east to mirror the Gerudos intentions. You wouldn't see a Gerudo in the forests situated in the east of Hyrule. Also, if something _did _happen there would be much more people in Hyrule Market Town when we came. Not many people were walking around, so I highly doubted there would've been a commotion. Usually when something like an arrest happened, curiosity takes place and people would be watching who it was being taken in by the guards. Nothing like that happened before our arrival. Just what was going on? Or better yet, what was Ganondorf trying to pull off?

"Has she confessed her reasons yet?" the king asked wearily.

"So far she hasn't said anything. The Gerudos will not be pleased to know of this incident." Ganondorf scratched the back of his head in wonder. "What can we do but to hope something good will happen soon?"

That's when Zelda stood up from her seat, and began walking to the door. I watched her with curiosity, wondering what she was intending to do. Her voice then demanded my attention.

"Lee," she called out with authority, not turning her head to look at me.

"Uh..." I looked at her like an idiot, confused about what she wanted. "Yeah?"

"Please go with General Ganondorf to the dungeon, so that you may talk to the Gerudo prisoner."

Both the Gerudo man and I stood in place, our mouths open in awe. It was a surprising thing to hear her say, indeed. _Why does she want me to see the girl?_

"Your highness, what do you intend to do?" Ganondorf asked, trying to convince the princess to rethink her decision. "We have done everything we could possibly do, and she will not say anything. What difference is there if we send the boy in?"

"Do you question the power of the gods, General?" Zelda gazed into his eyes like a poisoned arrow shot into an animal, something I never expected her to do. Sure she was strong-willed and persistent, but doing something as to give a nasty look to someone was beyond me. It must've had something to do with my first encounter with him, which was when I noticed hate between the two of them. Whatever it was, she obviously hated him with every bone in her body.

"N-no, I do not your highness," he answered timidly.

"Then do as I say, General, and take him with you." Zelda walked out of the room, but stopped by the doorway. "I will be waiting to go, as well."

"I do not think that is a good idea, Zelda," Nohanse spoke out. "The dungeon is no place for a la-"

"Father, please," the princess beseeched the king. "You promised me you wouldn't."

Nohanse sighed, leaning back into his throne. "I apologize, Zelda. Do as you see fit."

"Thank you." Zelda turned around. "When do you plan to take us, General?"

The Gerudo man looked afraid to speak, scared to say something that might offend the princess or her father. I walked to the exit, but stopped to cheer the General up with a pat on the back.

"Come on," I told him in a cheerful yet sarcastic manner. "You don't want to keep a lady waiting, do you?"

I heard him growl under his breath, which was a sign he was pissed off. _This must be the best day in my life so far_. When does anyone get the chance to taunt someone with high authority and get away with it?

Ganondorf followed behind us, soon leading the princess and I to the dungeon.

- - - - -

The smell of blood lingered in the cold air of the prison. The narrow halls were dimly lit by torches along the walls, unable to help us see where we were walking. Fortunately, the General's armour reflected the light from the torches, making our sight work better in the halls. The torches also didn't help much with warmth. It was very cold in the dungeon, forcing me to shiver from the low temperatures. I cursed under my breath from feeling the uncomforting breezes passing us by. _Man, I knew I should've worn something on my back!_

I couldn't have imagined the number of criminals that were kept in this dark labyrinth, but it seemed there were too many to keep track of; there were many criminals and people who may have been innocent, but all-in-all there were many people locked up. Most of the cells even looked over-crowded.

_This place is freaking the hell outta me!_ The blood's scent in the air made me wonder if the place was haunted, for numerous prisoners were locked away, many who died of starvation, from torture, or who decided that living was futile in such a place. _What if they haunt this place right now? _My thoughts began scaring me, but I knew paranoia was not an option, not when I was supposed to be strong and fearless like I'm expected to be. I'm the Guardian of the Triforce! I knew something so trivial was nothing to be worried about.

As for Zelda, her face showed the utmost fear. She shivered from the cold air and of fear, as she was afraid of all the prisoners gazing at her from their dirty cells. Being a young lady, she was not safe from being watched by perverted eyes. It was what she wanted in the first place, so I didn't want to make her feel any worse. All I could do was hope she was okay.

Suddenly from one of the dark cells off to the side, an arm struck out toward us to grab our attention. An old man, his white hair dirty from the time spent in his prison, reached out to us with his bony arm. Both the princess and I jumped back from the surprise, Zelda screaming from the shock.

"Please, your highness, let me free from this foul place!" the man begged. "I'm innocent. Please believe me!"

"Quiet!" A foot kicked the bars of the cell swiftly, pushing the man back and landing onto the floor. "Do not speak to her highness, you filth!"

Ganondorf stared the old prisoner down with a frightening gaze, forcing him to be silent. The General continued on, telling us to keep following him. Without further delay, we listened and continued walking with him to our destination.

After what seemed like an hour of walking through the dimly lit hallways, we reached a lit room at the end of one corridor. Nearing the room I heard whipping sounds and small yelps of what sounded like a wolfos or some other beast. It was strange to hear such things, but I figured it was a misconception of some sort. I didn't realize that it came from where we were supposed to go.

Ganondorf stood at the side of the entrance, allowing me to enter first with Zelda. The intense candle light from the room caused my vision to become fuzzy and unclear. When my sight started focusing better, my mouth dropped open from what I witnessed, and Zelda couldn't bear to see it either.

A young Gerudo, undoubtedly the criminal in questioning, was being interrogated by two of the king's Royal Guards. Her shackled wrists were pulled up to be hung by, and she was stripped of her cloths with her entire body exposed to the eyes of those in the room, but it wasn't her body that shocked me. It was, instead, the blood on the floor that poured from the open wounds on her entire back. They continued to multiply and open up more with every lashing she recieved from the whip. It looked like the guards were at this for an hour or so, which would kill the average prisoner that usually comes here. Surprisingly enough the girl was alive, however I just knew she would have death rather than such seemingly unbearable torture.

The whipping stopped at the command of the guard . The girl whimpered from the pain, as the guard walked to her with an overshadowing gaze in his eyes, putting fear in the Gerudo. He grabbed her by the throat, looking into her eyes with that same gaze. It almost reminded me of what I did to Zelda on our way back from the Temple of Time. _Was that me before? Was I that frightening?_

"Tell us why you killed both those men, and we'll make this easy for you." The girl replied with silence, provoking anger in the guard. "Fine, if you wish to stay quiet-"

The guard motioned his hand to tell the other one to commence whipping the prisoner. He comfortably did so, almost wanting to do it with pleasure. It sickened me to see this, as well as it did so to Zelda.

"General, you monster!" Zelda yelled out with a saddened tone. "I thought you were cold-hearted, but to this extent?"

"To deal with criminals requires to be cold, your highness," he replied emotionlessly. "I cannot be soft on her because she's a girl, or because she's younger. Every criminal must be punished."

"Even criminals are treated better than this!" I irrestistibly bursted out. The amount of anger I held over this made me fear for turning into the_monster_ I became before.

"You might be the Guardian, but you are still a simple-minded peasent as before we found you."

_Let me free, _it pleaded me. _Let me awaken once more! I can help you! _I held my head to try and stop the tempting voice from controlling my thoughts. It was the first time it literally called out to me. _Just what's going on with me?_

"Ganondorf, I demand you release her this instant!" Zelda ordered the Gerudo man. He, however, did not comply, and walked to the chained Gerudo in the middle of the room. The princess knew she was being ignored. "General, I order you to-"

"You don't seem to understand, your highness," he interrupted with a straight and calm tone. "She must be punished. She has killed two of the king's most loyal men, and her crimes mustn't go unpunished." He turned her around vigorously for us to see her front side. "She deserves no mercy for such a crime."

I looked up at her pretending she wasn't naked, being a guy and all, and I noticed something other than her feminine features. I looked at her, and knew who she was. I looked at her wide-eyed and couldn't believe what I saw. My mind was in doubt of the person, but I knew very well it was no illusion. _It can't be..._

The voice became more persistent and called out to me even more. Let me free! I can help you! I can help you defeat your enemies!

_What enemies? What the hell are you talking about? _Indeed, what enemies was the voice talking about? The Triforce - apparently that's what it was according to Zelda's previous explanation - became more demanding of its release. I knew that if I didn't do something soon, I would hurt everyone in the room, if not kill. It didn't matter what, but I needed to do something.

"Everyone, get out now!" I bursted out with aggresive authority. Everyone eyed me bewilderedly.

"What did you say?" Ganondorf asked, acting as if he didn't hear me the first time.

"I said leave this room now!" I shouted through clenched teeth, still holding back the voice in my head. Everyone in the room - the guards, Ganondorf, Zelda, even the prisoner - looked at me in a strange way. It made sense to do so, since what was going on with me was strange beyond belief.

Ganondorf let out an irritated sigh. "You two, stop the interrogation. We are leaving."

"But sir, we still haven't found out her rea-"

"I said leave," Ganondorf gave a dark look at the two of them. They followed orders from their superior, walking out of the room. Ganondorf followed behind, but Zelda stayed and looked at me with concern.

"Lee, what's wrong?" she asked with her usual soft and innocent tone. She placed her hand slowly onto my shoulder, but I shoved it off.

"I told you to leave," I repeated myself. She disregarded what I told her and instead became worried for me.

"What's happening, Lee? Let me help you."

"Please, just leave," I said once more, giving her an assuring look that showed I'd be fine. She nodded agreeably and left, still with her concerned look stuck to her face. She closed the doors behind me, only leaving me and the Gerudo prisoner in the candle-lit room. Once everyone was gone, I fell to my knees and breathed heavily to avoid fainting and stay conscious. The voice stopped begging for its escape out of my mind, and luckily no one was hurt. _Thank the gods, I'm still myself._

I looked up, almost forgetting the presence of the Gerudo. She looked at me scared and dumbfounded, wondering what I was doing on the floor while she tried to ignore me at the same time. I figured she was still afraid after being tortured continuously, so I needed to show her I wasn't going to hurt her at all. _What can I do?_

I got up from the floor and slowly walked to the girl. She shivered from fear as I moved toward her with an almost stern face, although that wasn't my intention. I grabbed onto the Master Sword's hilt, scaring the Gerudo more into thinking I was going to hurt her. I then pulled it out from the cloth wrapped around it, and swung it to cut the thin chain holding her off the ground. She fell with a hard thump onto the blood-covered stone floor.

As I went to help her up, she looked at me more confused than scared. I put out my hand to show her I had no intention of hurting her, but her confusion just grew.

"It's ok," I explained softly. "No one's going to hurt you now, I promise you."

She slowly and cautiously went to grab my hand. I gave her a smile when she looked at me confused, thinking I was going to trick her. She looked for the small moment until she quickly grabbed my hand and pulled me away, quickly darting for the door out of the room. Reacting to this, I dropped my sword to the ground and threw myself onto her to stop her. I pinned her arms down and fought to keep her on the ground.

"I don't want to hurt you," I explained irritantly. "Just what the hell don't you understand about that?"

She said nothing to me, just like she said nothing to the guards before, but she yelped like the wolfos I thought I heard before when I neared the room.

"What are you, part animal or something?" I asked while fighting to stop her from escaping my grip. "Why won't you speak? I promised you I won't hurt you, so what more do you wan-"

I stopped my rambling as my attention turned directly to her neck. Bandages were wrapped around her neck to cover up something, presumably a scar of some sort. I took off the bandages to satisfy my curiosity while continuing to fight off the Gerudo, and under the bandages I saw a fairly large scar across her neck. Her denial to reply to the interrogations became more clear as to why. _So that's why you didn't speak..._

She fought her way out of my hands and pushed me back, heading for the door. In the moment she banged on the door to force it open, I remembered what Zelda told me about some of my power as the Triforce's Guardian.

"Your blood is one of the key ingredients to accomplishing many benevolent actions," she explained.

"My blood? What are you talking about?"

"Your blood is the cure to any sort of ailment that comes to mind. It can cure the sick, give sight to the blind, move the limbs of the paralyzed, and give them what they never had initially."

"So what do I do? Just give my blood to everyone?"

The princess looked away embarrassingly. "I don't know much about it. I only remember what I read in the Hyrulean archives about the Triforce. What I am sure of, however, is that once you see the Triforce inscribed onto the back of your right hand, you must cut open the palm of that hand and use the blood for what you must."

"And when will I know I need to do that, your highness?" I asked with friendly sarcasm.

"You will know when the time arises."

_Looks like it's that time now_, I assured myself once I noticed the Triforce forming on my right hand. I took my sword and swiped my hand briskly across the blade's edge, ignoring the pain from doing so._ I hope this is how you do it, or by the gods will I get really pissed._

I slyly grabbed the Gerudo by the neck with the cut hand and smeared my blood across the wound. She fought me, but I attempted to fight back while barely holding onto her, but as soon as I lost grip I was pushed swiftly back and fell to the floor hard. I rubbed my bottom from feeling the pain of falling.

"How dare you?" the Gerudo roared at me."Don't you dare touch me, you dirty, lying, perverted son of a-" And she stopped the moment she heard her voice. The girl put her hand to her throat in disbelief, startled by gaining what she lost. "How did you-"

"Give your voice back?" I finished. "Long story short, someone told me I can do it when the time came." I gave her a smile, which was replied with a look of shock on her face.

"Are you the Triforce's protector?" she asked befuddled. "Have you been finally found?"

"Let's stop with the questions, and continue with your interrogation," I cut her off. "Why did you kill both men?"

"Heh, you as well?" she asked expectedly. "I knew you believed it too. I didn't do anything to those men, but they went after me."

"What do you mean they went after you?" I asked curiously.

"I was at my post at the valley entrance to the west, and this caravan passed by," she reminisced over the incident. "I found nothing strange about it, so I continued to watch over the valley entrance. That's when guards emerged from the wagon, which I first thought were goods because they were covered over with a large cloth blanket. They attacked me, covering my mouth before I could call for help."

"You were alone?"

"I asked our leader, Nabooru, if I could watch the entrance alone," the Gerudo explained. "She wasn't willing to let me go on my own, but I convinced her."

"So then what happened," I helped continue the story.

"They put a potato bag over my head, and brought me into their wagon, or at least I think it was their wagon. I soon found myself in the Kokiri Forests, far from the Gerudo stronghold. I was surrounded by Hylian soldiers clad in red, readying their spears and swords. I tried to fight them off, but there were too many and I was overwhelmed by their numbers."

"That doesn't make any sense," I whispered to myself. "Ganondorf said there were only two men, and he never mentioned those men were Royal Guards. Did he set the whole thing up? Does he know what the Gerudos would do if they know about this? The Gerudos' chances of signing the treaty willingly will be zero to nothing!"

"What is it?"

"Oh, n-nothing. What happened next?"

"Many fled after I defeated them, thinking I would kill them, but three remained and started to do... unspeakable thing." She looked away with tears in her eyes. _Those damn bastards_, I cursed. _What were they thinking? _I forgot about the thought and continued.

"Did you kill those men?"

"I did, but only because they were threatening to kill me after they were done with me." Fear appeared in her eyes. "I had no choice but to kill them. They taunted me while stroking a blade across my skin, threatening to kill me when I was 'of no use' to them."

I knew she wasn't lying, and that fear in her eyes proved it. It never happened to me, but I knew that no woman would fake something like that. Those that do, however, wouldn't have that scared look in their eyes. It's hard to act that out so well, and after being whipped for an hour and be given her voice back, I didn't think she'd start lying. So all I had to do was come up with a plan, and I just had the perfect one.

"Just one more question," I asked her. "What do you know about General Ganondorf?"

"Why are you asking?" she asked, surprised by the sudden question.

"I know he didn't become General such a long time ago," I explained. "Your leader would know a thing or two about him, and I bet you speak about him too. If you don't, I'm pretty sure you were well reminded about his faults. So what do you know?"

"Well, I don't know much," she answered worriedly. "Nabooru did mention him several times, but she spoke of him a couple of years ago."

"Just tell me what you know, and I'll handle the rest."

"What will you do?"

"I'll figure out something," I told her with a big smirk on my face.

So she told me everything she knew about Ganondorf. It wasn;t much, but it satisfied me enough. She looked at me puzzled.

"Why did you want to know?" she asked.

"I'll let you know," I told her, "But right now, I need you to listen real carefully." I explained everything to her in detail, and she seemed to understand well. I called in the guards afterwards and ordered them to have the Gerudo's wounds cleaned up and bandaged, and threatened them if they did something to her other than what I ordered. they complied and took her with them. _I just hope this works._


	8. Chaos in the Castle Walls Pt 2

Hey, four days and I updated. Can this get any better?

Oh yes. Yes it can.

* * *

**Chapter VI**

**Chaos in the castle Walls Pt. 2**

People of Hyrule Castle Town crowded the streets in the center of the town. The shops were closed and every other place was empty and deserted. Everyone was too anxious for the event to start, as everyone pushed and shoved each other to beat the rest to a good view. It was strange. What was happening?

I would've been one of those people in the crowds, awaiting for what will happen. I would've been in the crowds, just like in my dream, but my dream showed me standing where I stood while waiting for the execution, with my black cloak hiding my newly-clothed body and the hood over my face. I held the large, old, rusted ax upside down infront of me, the ax head standing on the ground. The first time I saw myself here, I couldn't believe it, but now I knew it was going to happen. The first time I saw that girl in the dungeon, I knew it wasn't just a dream. Just why was I getting these visions? Is the Triforce helping me, or does it want me to do something?

The well-polished wagon from my dream came, pulled by the two same horses, with the Gerudo in the back. So far, it was just like my vision, but it was going to have a slightly different ending to it this time.

The Gerudo, wearing the exact same short, tanned-hyde dress, was taken off the wagon by two of the nearby guards who kept people away from the execution area. They lead her towards me as I met them halfway. Both Nohanse and Ganondorf watched surprised as to what I was doing, but I needed to get to her and make sure that no one would hear me.

"Let go of her," I ordered, "I will take her myself."

They willingly handed her over to me, and I pulled her arm fiercely to play my part. All that needed to be done was to verify if she played hers.

"Did you see it?" I whispered, noticing the guards were following.

"It was faint, but I got a near-perfect glimpse of it," she confidently replied.

"That's good. How big was it?"

"Quite large, infact, almost impossible for a spear to inflict such damage."

"Large, you say?" The detail wasn't surprising, but it was quite interesting to know. "Can you estimate how big it was?"

"About half a foot; it's possible it's slightly more than that."

"I see." Everything was good to go so far. "Was it a clean blow?"

"As clean as the lake presents itself to be," she assured me. "I noticed the smell of burnt flesh as well, which I am sure was from the blade. Is that all you needed to know?"

"More than enough. Thanks."

"No, don't thank me," she said. "I must thank you for believing in my innocence, but you gave me my voice back and I could never thank you enough." She gave me a smile of gratitude as further thanks. _Yeah, well I just hope the king'll believe it all, and not freak out on me later... so much._

We arrived to the wooden stump in the center of the opening. I unchained her wrists and chained them again to both sides of the stump. Everyone anticipated the death of who they thought was a "cold and heartless" murderer, _but won't they be in the shock of their lives._

I gripped my ax strongly with both hands prior to looking to the side, noticing the king and Princess Zelda in finely-crafted chairs, and Sir Ganondorf standing by the king's side. I looked back at the girl who pretended to wait for her execution.

I took my ax and held it high over my head. I readied the blow while repeatedly telling myself not to miss. Then I swung it, and a widely heard gasp came out in unison by all in the crowds to see the shocking event of their lives - their long-awaited Savior denied justice to let a murderer live by missing her head and cutting off the chains that held one of her arms down. I saw the big surprise in all their eyes. Some even started to gossip about what I did. I saw Ganondorf's expression of surprise and infinite fury while disregarding the king's shock to the whole event.

"You fool!" Ganondorf yelled ferociously, pointing to me and walking fast to where I stood. "I knew very well in my gut - despite you wielding the Blade of the Gods - that you are nothing more than a young, stupid, naive son of a-"

"General!" the king rose from his seat rather angrily. I hoped it wasn't because of what I did.

"But your majesty, I-"

"You will be wise to hold your tongue, Sir Ganondorf," the king said with the strongest authority I've seen from him. "This boy you speak so poorly about is wise, so you will be as wise as he to allow him to explain himself."

Ganondorf didn't like the idea by the expression on his face, but he complied and stood at ease. Now all I needed to do was explain to them the Gerudo's innocence.

I cut off the other chain to release the girl completely, and helped her up to her feet. Everyone watched and still gossiped about it all. I already made myself look bad, and screwing it up meant to lose my head.

"You may be all wondering about what I did," I grabbed everyone's attention, silencing them from the gossiping. "You have been told this girl is a cold and heartless murderer, that she killed both of the king's most trusted men with blind rage. I have lived for 10 years on my own, and for those 10 years I have witnessed plenty of occurrences in many places in Hyrule. That is why I know very well that this girl did not do what you believe.

"So let me explain to you why she is innocent. First of all, there were not just two men with her, but several of the Royal Guards were present prior to the murder. They attacked her, but she fought back to save herself. Three remained after the rest fled from battle, and they remained until the time of the murder. They were also the ones who provoked their inevitable deaths by not only attacking this girl, but doing something that would never leave the mind of a woman."

Whispers started to spread again. By some that I was able to hear, some were skeptical about my explanation but others took it as the king's word. Ganondorf, however, was angered by the story.

"You cannot be serious!" the Gerudo man spoke. "Only two men were there, and she was not provoked to kill them. She is a murderer, nothing more!"

"You are a Gerudo yourself, General," I reminded him. "Do you know why a Gerudo would be found in the eastern forests of Hyrule, such as the Kokiri Forest?"

The General was struck speechless, unable to answer properly. I knew I got him, so I continued.

"They wouldn't be, General. Never, in a hundred years, would you see a Gerudo in the eastern forests. They will never travel east because they prefer the deserts, which are located in the far west. So that just leaves one question, which I hope you can answer general." I dramatically stroked my chin as I pretended to not know. "How did this Gerudo wind up in the forests yesterday? She wouldn't do it willingly, now would she?"

"General, what does he mean?" Nohanse asked curiously.

Ganondorf could not speak clearly, but only stutter when attempting to answer to the king. I smirked, knowing well that I caught him off guard.

"Tell me General, what does Lee mean?"

"I... he, he means... this... this boy is lying!" he bursted out. "He is fooling you, your majesty! You cannot believe his word!"

"Why not?" I asked, eyeing Ganondorf and giving him a mean look. "Why not believe me? Why believe a man who has total control over all of his majesty's men, who attacked this girl?" The fear inside him worsened. The king looked at the Gerudo man in shock.

"General, did you...?"

"Your majesty, you cannot believe this boy!" he shouted once more in denial. "He is fooling you! He must've bargained with this girl after he ordered my men and I out of the room!"

"Just like you ordered your men to capture this girl, forcibly take her to the Kokiri Forest and attack her?" I reminded him. Everyone in the crowds whispered to each other after hearing the detail. I could see the surprised look on Nohanse's face.

"You did what, Ganondorf?" he asked bewildered, standing from his seat to look at the General's face much clearer.

"He fooled you, your majesty," I replied for the speechless General. "He sent your Royal Guards to capture this girl from her post at the valley entrance, and attack her in the Kokiri Forest to cause the deaths of both two men you see now lying in the dungeon."

"What proof do you have of this?" he asked questioningly. "How do you know of this, Lee?"

I was afraid to tell him, knowing he wouldn't be satisfied to know my source of information. I turned to look at the girl behind me, who was worried for her safety. Ganondorf and Nohanse both figured out the answer once seeing me look back to her.

Ganondorf let out a burst of uncontrollable laughter. "Do you mean to say that you were told all this nonsense by this girl? This girl, who is brought to justice today for the murder of both men?" He stopped to look into my eyes with his dark gaze. "You are so naive to believe what she told you, boy."

I gritted my teeth in frustration. I needed to convince the king I was right, and that this Gerudo was innocent. He knew what would happen if she was put to death, and I needed to stop that from happening.

"Lee," I heard someone call. The Gerudo pointed to his sword to remind me of the strongest evidence we had. I almost forgot about it, as well as that third victim, but I was sure to conclude this battle for the girl's innocence and put Ganondorf in chains.

"Ganondorf," I called out to him through his loud and uncontrollable laughter. He stopped to look at me startled.

"What else do you have to say, boy?" he asked sarcastically.

"Where did you say that third soldier was?" I asked him with a smirk visibly showing on my face. He, on the other hand, didn;t seem to notice it.

"We already discussed this, there was no third man," the Gerudo man told me reassuringly. "Only two men were present during the murder. A third man was nowhere to be seen."

"Maybe not by you, General, but maybe because your eyesight is horrible," I insulted him, tempting his anger to unveil itself from his body. "Or maybe you miscounted. I always wondered if you could count past five, or count at all, but now I guess I know what the truth is."

"Shut your mouth, boy!" he yelled angrily. "I'm warning you. If you speak ill of me, I'll-"

"You'll do what, General?" I asked sarcastically. "Will you kill me? You know you can't, or did you forget that too. Tell me, Sir Ganondorf, how many things do you forget everyday? By what it seems to me, you forget quite a lot."

I saw the fires burning in his eyes. The flames of rage built up inside him grew at such quick ferocity. The moblin I had to fight the day before would cowar at such an anger as the one the Gerudo man. A part of me was also fearing for my life at the sight of his rage. _Now I got him._

"You... you little, foolish, insolent brat!" he spoke through clenched teeth. "... I will cut you down and make you wish you WERE NEVER BORN!"

He unsheathed his large sword from his side, darting towards me with blind hate. As he sliced down upon my head I blocked with the large ax in my hand. I let out a sigh of relief after I saved myself from losing my head, as well as did everyone else when they witnessed a shocking outburst of the General's hate toward me. the king and Zelda - Zelda especially - almost fainted by the heart-stopping sight of the attack. I knew he hated me, but this much? I couldn't believe it, but it appeared to be so.

I pushed the sword away from me with the might of the heavy ax, keeping Ganondorf a safe distance away. The talk among the crowds began once again, this time it worsened for the General's discontent. Sweat poured down from his forehead, knowing that his act of violence would affect him dearly.

"General, what were you thinking?" Nohanse exclaimed with strong disappointment. "Your stupidity will end this instant, or by the gods, so help me ganondorf."

"But your majesty, he provoked me!" the Gerudo man tried to explain to his majesty, but the king disregarded Ganondorf's plea for mercy.

I stepped in to save the man, but to also convict him of his crimes. "Your majesty, do not blame Sir Ganondorf for his blind rage. He was at no fault, for I was the one who provoked his anger by insulting him."

"What do you speak of?" both asked bewildered in unison. I smirked and humoured myself with my intentions.

"I provoked the General by insulting him, yes, but it was not for my own humour. This time it was my intention to force him to attack me."

Both looked at me confused, but Ganondorf was not just confused, but afraid.

I continued with the smirk only growing. "That sword you wield, General, I know it all too well. El Guardia de Desierto, the Desert's Guard, is a very strong sword which had been forged from the sacred sands found only in the Temple of the Spirit. Passed on to the male Gerudo born every one hundred years for the past several millenia, it is the symbol of Power, Instinct, Bravery, Leadership, and Dominance over the Gerudo race."

"How do you know of this?" Ganondorf asked incredulously. His gaze soon turned to the girl behind me. "Did you tell him of this? Did you tell him of the Gerudo's secret?" She couldn't do anything but look away from the man's dark gaze. "You stupid girl, you know of the consequences!"

"She said nothing, General!" I loudly interrupted him. "I know of it from overhearing many stories from travellers. It is something you do when living like hell for ten years of your life."

"And so what if you know now? What will you do with such knowledge? It will do you no good now, boy, so why even bring it to our attention?"

"Because it is the solid proof that can show this girl's innocence, and your crimes," I replied confidently. "Your sword emanates an incredible amount of heat, as it is intertwined with the Spirit of the Sand. When the Spirit is satisfied, the desert will bring that satisfaction to the Gerudos. If angered, the desert will become violent and kill any life that enters its grounds." I held the ax up to show the blade melted to where Ganondorf's sword made contact. "Look at what it did to this blade, General. Your anger produced this blade's worthlessness."

"That still does not explain your assumption!" Ganondorf proudly exclaimed. "What do you wish to accomplish by telling us about my anger and my blade?"

"This girl, who you convicted of these crimes we speak of today, told me about the room at the very bottom of the dungeon that she walked by yesterday after our discussion. She looked through the very narrow crack of the brick wall to see to the other side. To any normal man, such as myself, looking through such a small space is impossible when walking by to only see it for a second. For a Gerudo, however, this is nothing special." I eyed the General, ignoring the surprised king standing next to him. "You should know, General, that the Gerudo are the best archers in Hyrule. Their eyesight is tenfold of a hawk's, able to pierce through any sort of small space. Some can even tell two grains of sand apart from each other. Isn't that why we are making this alliance with them? You know, the one that could prove impossible if this girl is killed?"

Everyone gasped at the end. Everyone was shocked by what I spoke of, the king appearing disappointed, if not angered, by the sudden burst of news. Ganondorf didn't take it too lightly.

"You stupid brat!" he shouted, grabbing my cloak's collar strongly. "You knew as well as I that this was to be kept private. No one was supposed to know of it!"

"I know very well, General," I reassured him. "So how does that make you feel now, knowing that everyone will know what your consequences will do to affect all these people?"

He showed me distaste in his expression, releasing me with equal swiftness from his grip. I took the time to continue my speech,

"As I said, the Gerudo are able to see with the most exceptional sight. This girl here, who you convict of murder, has seen what was behind that wall. That third man, who you deny his presence, laid behind that wall." Gasping sounded among the crowds. _Yeah, as if they didn't hear anything like this earlier today_. I continued on with my story. "Thanks to his majesty granting me permission to walk anywhere within the castle boundaries, I noticed the smell of burning flesh, and this girl made it clear to me that the body behind that wall was killed by your blade which burned him, leaving no blood anywhere around him. Your sword also fits the description of being half a foot, if not more, which was the same size of the clean wound."

The king was surprised by the upsetting news. Ganondorf gripped his large sword tightly to try and hold his anger to avoid another mishap, looking at me with hate in his eyes.

Nohanse sat down, leaning against the armrests while putting his hands over his mouth in a pondering-like pose. "As much as this is shocking to find out, Lee, I cannot say that he is truly guilty of these crimes. You used this girl to prove these theories, who was convocted of said crimes."

"You majesty, I'm not lying," I begged him to rethink his reply. "Please check where I have said the body lays. It must be there."

"I'm sorry, Lee, but I cannot act upon these theories of yours," he replied. "However, seeing as how this could upset the possibility of an alliance with the Gerudo Tribe, I cannot allow this execution."

The king stood from his seat with Zelda following his actions. The guards standing by them followed Zelda as she went on her way back to the castle. "Get everyone back to their business, General. This execution is over."

"Your majesty, are you letting this murderer free?"

"I told you, General, this execution is over. Do as I ask and don't speak out of turn once more, or you will lose your head."

The Gerudo man gritted his teeth, but had no choice but to comply. He bowed to Nohanse, and ordered a few of the men to help with getting everything back in order. I called the girl over to my side, telling her to come back with me.

"Is it all over?" she asked satisfyingly. I nodded her a reply, instilling in her a calm feeling.

I was on my way to catch up with Zelda and his majesty, but in the corner of my eye I noticed the Gerudo on the ground. I watched in disbelief, not knowing what she was doing.

"Thank you, my Lord," she spoke in gratitude. "Your mercy is more than appreciated, your excellency."

"Hey, hey, hey, what do you think you're doing?" I asked incredulously. " 'My Lord'? 'Your excellency'? I'm just like you, no greater. I'd prefer it more if you treated me like a normal guy, like calling me by my name. You know, 'Lee' or something."

I knelt down to help her up on her feet. "How about you just come along, and stop with the formalities? I'll have something made for you to eat, get you into some better, more comfortable clothes, whatever you need, I'll-"

The Gerudo kissed me on the lips, luckily it was away from the sight of the King and Zelda - especially Zelda - but it sure as hell caught me off guard. After she was done, I felt a heat of embarrassment throughout my overwhelmed body, but a nostalgic feeling with it..

"Is this what you meant, Lee?" she asked softly, her face still only an inch or two away from mine.

"Kinda..." I startlingly replied, acting almost like a dunce from the momentary surprise. Well, let's see how you react when a girl kisses you out of random. It's not something you'd take as normal.

She walked by on her way to the castle, calling me over. Being snapped out of my surprise, I ran to her and walked beside her to the castle. _Just what will the king do when he finds out about this? What will Zelda do?_ Yeah, what would Zelda do? She might not care at all, but I did, and I figured that if she knew about it I might never get that damn kiss from her!_ Well, at least a girl kissed me. That's good, right?  
_


	9. Can't We All Just Get Along for a Sec?

Hey, hey, hey! I'm back, and still writing! Sorry to leave you all in a cliffhanger, but I finally finished the next. So enjoy and be satisfied, for I ain't finished this fanfic yet.

* * *

**Chapter VIII**

**Can't We All Just Calm Down for a Sec?**

The sun hid itself halfway under the horizon, giving off the golden light it did everyday at this time. All of DaMar was ready for the day's end as everyone closed up shop and all went home to thir families. It was only a couple of boys who did not abide by these subconcious rules everyone followed from day-to-day. Instead, they caused some trouble as they always had before. The only difference is they plan to cause trouble for one another.

"Alric, wait up!" cried out the older of the two. The other one stopped briefly to look back at the one barely catching up.

"Sorry brother, but I hate waiting for slow runners," explained the younger one sarcastically, continuing to run up the giant hill that stood tall within the city walls.

The older sibling made a mean looking face that was meant for his brother, but Alric made no regard and simply ignored it as he ran up the hill to the tall oak tree at the peak. After Alric made it to the top he placed his palm onto the tree and jumped excitedly, pumping his fist into the air.

"I win, I win!" he exclaimed. The other one made it only a moment later, breathing heavily to regain strength. He eyed his brother bitterly, watching him bask in glory over winning the race.

"Hah, I beat you!" Alric pointed to his brother. "Admit it, Lee, I'm the fastest in all of DaMar. No one can beat me, not even my older brother."

"No fair, Alric!" his brother forced out of himself, still breathing hard from the long run. "You had a five minute headstart from home. You tricked me and went for the hill when you said you needed to go to pee, you liar!"

"Oh, don't be a sore loser," he demanded. "I won, and you lost. Admit it, I'm the fastest."

"Oh yeah? Well, I'm the strongest!" Lee grabbed his one-year-younger brother by the neck in a headlock, making sure that it was impossible for escape. The younger sibling tried so hard to break free, but to no avail did he escape his brother's strong grip.

A slim figure walked up the hill, spotting the two boys fighting each other playfully. The two boys noticed someone came, and stopped the instant they knew who it was.

"Mom!" both shouted out in joy. Their mother smiled at the greeting, watching the boys run up to her.

"What have you two been up to?" she asked with a bit of sarcasm in her voice, knowing well what they were doing without her around.

"Nothing, mom," Alric retorted. "We were good today, honest."

"I hope you were, especially to Mr. Yonwin."

"He told you?" Lee asked in dismay.

"Every single thing, Lee," his mother replied disappointedly. "How many times must I tell you to leave the poor old man alone?"

"Yes, mother," the two boys contently replied in unison.

"Ah, I almost forgot," their mother reminded herself of something. "Father told me to tell you Happy Birthday, Lee. He's very sorry he couldn't make it today, but you know how it is now at the castle."

"I understand," the eldest brother replied with a disappointed sigh. "But does it have to be today that he's gone?"

"Did you forget father's promise already?" a voice sounded from nearby. Alric and Lee recognized the voice well, but had no idea where it came from, until both saw a red-headed girl peek from behind their mother.

"You didn't already forget about father's promise, did you?" she asked once more.

"Of course not, Holly," Lee assured her with a grin. "Your big brother never forgets."

"But why are you hiding behind mom?" Alric asked, befuddled.

"Well, um..." The little girl's grip on her mother's dress became tighter with every hesitant breath, pulling the dress more over her already half-hidden face. oth boys looked quizzically at her, wondering what she could have been hiding.

"Oh, don't be shy, Holly," mother looked at her with an assuring smile. "Show Lee your gift."

For a moment, Holly continued to hide behind her mother, but slowly and cautiously came out from behind and showed what she hid from her two brothers. Both looked in shock and awe.

"You cut your hair?" Alric asked dumbfounded. "Why did you do that? I liked it better when you had longer hair."

"I didn't do it for you, and I didn't do it for myself either. Since Lee likes girls with shorter hair, I thought I'd do the same thing with mine for his borthday..."

The short hair on his sister's head surprised him beyond his own belief. It was true that he liked girls with shorter hair than what most girls had in Hyrule, but his sister was different. Her long hair, that reached down past her waist, was always clean as she kept it in a tail to keep it from going into her face, and it suited her well. She was the only exception to his rule about girls with short hair because he always thought she looked cute with long hair. However, Lee had no intention of disappointing his sister, who cut her beautiful hair for him. Holly was fearing to have disappointed her older brother at that point as she noticed the stupified expression on his face.

"Do you... like it?" She asked hesitantly. "Brother?"

Lee came up to his little sister and put his hand gently on her shoulder. She looked up and saw the warm smile on his face.

"Of course I do!" Lee blurted out with excitement. "You should've done it a long time ago, you silly girl. You look much better with short hair."

"Really?" she asked joyfully.

"Sure you do! I would never lie to you! You're too cute to be lied to."

She smiled with content of knowing her brother's satisfaction with his present. She became happy and hugged her brother tightly as if to cling onto him to avoid falling down a hole. Lee replied with a tight hug as well.

"Happy Birthday, brother," she whispered to his ear.

- - - - -

My eyes opened to the welcoming of dirty stalls and the smell of horse feces laying near those stalls. At first my mind was fuzzy and I became befuddled with where I was and why. But I sat up straight on the small stool after my realization of where I was, and what had happened, had sharpened my mind.

After the execution, I came to the stables to reminisce over the events that occurred the past couple of days - both the good and bad, if not just the bad. There wasn't a whole hell of a lot of good things that happened, not like almost dying when fighting a huge-ass ugly moblin, or killing men in cold blood. Not to mention being on the verge of almost killing the Princess of Hyrule and an innocent Gerudo. So far that temptation that stuck in my head hadn't been bothering me, but I could sometimes feel it wanting out. I continued to ponder on the mysterious curse and thought about it for some time. _What could it be? Why is it bothering me? Where did it come from?_ The last one was on my mind the most. Where did it come from?

That voice, that dark and frightening voice I quickly feared, all started when I fought the moblin. I was about to die and, simply out of nowhere, I felt so relaxed and calm in the most severe of circumstances. I was quick and killed the beast with my spear with a strike to its head. How could any mere Hylian like me pull off something like that? It was unheard of.

Then it was the attack at the Temple of Time. Zelda was in trouble and I needed to act fast. It was many men against a single boy with a sword, but I managed more than well on my own due to that soothing mental state of fearlessness. The fight made my blood pump faster and my adrenaline go nuts, but I managed to stay calm under the dangerous events of that moment. I couldn't understand what happened, but the aftermath of my slaughter left me mentally scarred for a long period of time, or so it felt. I never seen such carnage in my life, especially from one person. I couldn't act normal after seeing such a thing.

Maybe my scarred mind was the reason I was angry at Zelda. I got really pissed off at her for keeping secrets from me. She knew well enough about what was going on with me, but she wouldn't say anything. She was probably scared of letting me know of its danger, but what scared her the most was me. I had no idea what came over me, but my rage overwhelmed my then-battered mind which was still delicate after the witnessing of my insanity. What was strikingly weird, though, was the cause for it. I thought that the urge came from my persistence of Zelda's lies and my strong curiosity, but I couldn't help but feel that _it _was happening. I always believed that, since my battle with the beast in the throne room, it would only happen if I was in danger or someone else was, but nobody was attacked nor were beasts around to threaten us. Now, I'm not even sure, and the same goes for during the time in the dungeon when I was brought to see the girl. That same girl who I had a vision prior to the execution.

That was another thing to wonder about. I only experienced a few of these visions, but they were all strange. They tried to tell me of the future and what to expect, which I guess was to my own advantage. However, that only happened when I envisioned the execution and I saw myself as the executioner, bringing down his ax upon the girl's head. There were two others that made no sense, however, which now seem like something very important.

The first one gave me a chilling feeling that something will happen. I never gave it much thought at first, but it lingered in my mind and told me that I will die. The white, ghostly figure will kill me with that great sword of which he wields, but when? Who is that ghostly figure, and when will I die by its hands? Will I die at all, even? My eyes opened wide once the sword would have struck me, but was that the entity's intention? _This is why I hate visions._

The second one was much more confusing, as was everything else that day. Visions are supposed to be like premonitions, right? And premonitions are glimpses of the future. So why did I envision what had already happened, and before the war? Could it have been a dream? Possibly, but I highly doubt that dreams occur in the most exact of past occurrences. That dream was of my birthday before the war, before my father's death and of my home's destruction. It already happened, so what could possibly be so important about it?

The door creacked open to announce the princess's entrance into the stables. I stood up at the surprise of seeing her there as all my troubling thoughts were washed away by her own troubled look. Something seemed wrong, but not quite as she wasn't fearing anything, so I didn't want to jump to conclusions yet.

"Lee, please come with me," she demanded sternly. "I must show you something."

"What is it?" I asked, but I was given no answer. She walked out through the door she enetered from without waiting for me, so I quickly ran after her and caught up soon after.

We walked through the castle halls, which felt like an endless maze to me. No matter how long I spent in the castle, I still couldn't find my way through this enormous structure that stands among the great Hyrule Castle Market Town. The castle's size almost resembled the Temple of Time's, but the temple continued to stand as the tallest landmark in all of the land.

We entered the dungeons once again, bringing forth the cold air that brings a gentle sting to the touch of skin, and the smell of rotting flesh from the long and recent dead. Zelda appeared to be more fearless than before, possibly because she knows what to expect. She was a strange one, I had to admit. I never met someone like her Highness who wields a strong will and determination to do what's right, but still have a sliver of fear in her of the most smallest of things sometimes. But if there was one thing I had to admire about her, it was her attempt to be strong and brave in the heat of a scenario.

We hastily made our way through, until Princess Zelda stopped at a dead end of a wide hallway. I looked in dismay, thinking we lost our way - or she lost her way - but she wasn't distressed or panicing about it as someone usually would do. She seemed to be normal about it, but only because she didn't lose her way at all. Zelda took a necklace from around her neck and took it off to place it inside a hole shaped in the same way; a necklace shaped like the Triforce, made in the same golden colour as the relic.

Soon after the wall before us opened and showed us the way into a pitch black room. I was somewhat hesitant to walk in, since I really hate walking into dark corridors - you don't know what sort of crap can happen and pop out. Zelda didn't take any heed as I did, since she walked right in. I knew nothing was going to happen, but then what was inside?

"Lee," Zelda spoke, catching my attention. I quickly snapped back from thought into the moment.

"Yeah, I'm coming," I replied, although I was willing not to enter. _What was she planning?_

I walked into the room slowly to avoid hitting something or tripping over something. I didn't have to worry about that, though, since light appeared from a torch in the middle of the room. I looked to see Zelda holding another torch in her hand and walking to the wall ahead. I followed, and coming up to the stone wall I saw a grand image of Hyrule and its history. I was shocked and amazed at the carvings on the wall that depicted many stories of the land's historical events. The one image that caught my attention the most, however, was that of the Master Sword which stood in the center of five markings that circled it. It appeared to be the largest image out of all the carved murals. Was it that important?

"Are you aware of Hyrule's history, Lee?" Zelda asked when walking to my side, cutting into my thoughts. Once I woke up from my daydreaming, I nodded a reply.

"My parents taught me about yrule and how it became what it is today," I told her. "But I haven't been into it much to remember it all now. All I know is that the warrior in green was the one who stopped the war ten years ago."

"The warrior in green is a symbol of Hyrule's strength and courage. He is the sole purpose of Hyrule's existence to this day." Zelda placed her hand on the large mural. "His death was also that purpose."

"What do you mean?" I asked.

Zelda looked at me with a sharp gaze filled with a mix of fear and uncertainty. I looked into her eyes, and saw that something troubled her.

"He risked his life for Hyrule, Lee," Zelda explained. "You are the Triforce's Guardian. Your life is for the power of the gods and for Hyrule, which means you will inevitably risk your life, and even sacrifice it, for this land. Are you ready for that sort of responsibility?"

Her question was a very disturbing one, so much so that I couldn't answer her as soon as she asked me. I should have known it would come to something like this when I agreed to wield the Master Sword, but it didn't cross my mind at least once. At that moment, when Zelda asked me directly, I didn't know what to say. I didn't come up with any sort of answer to give her, so you could say I was screwed. However, I needed to say something, and I needed to be honest.

"Heh, wow. I didn't really think about it so much," I explained. "It's asking a lot."

"You should have thought about this sooner!" Zelda yelled at me, her voice echoing in the empty chamber. I looked at her with a startled expression branded on my face, uncertain of her outburst; did she mean to shout out like that, or did she just yell for virtually no reason?

"Zelda..." I spoke, but she looked away.

"You should have known this was your fate the moment you held that sword in your hand," she told me. "But you were too ignorant of it, and now that I tell you of your mission, you will not be ready."

"What kind of bullshit is this?" I asked demandingly. "You say I'm not ready? I proved to you that I was! Who was it that slain that ugly-ass moblin back in the throne room? Who was it that protected you from those bastards at the Temple of Time? I may not be ready to die, but I'm more than ready to try whatever you're telling me to do."

"You don't understand," the princess explained. "You can't try because you are not to fail. If you fail, no one else is able to take your place. If you die, we will all perish. Hyrule will be consumed by darkness."

I looked at her worriedly, seeing fear written on her face. She was scared for me, I can tell, because what she was going to tell me was something that I might not survive through. I wasn't scared so much, although it was a small bit of fear that nested inside me, but I lived through many events that made me stronger and had given me the ability to shake the fear off when the time came. I wasn't only going to try, I was going to succeed.

I placed a hand on Zelda's shoulder. She looked at me with tear-filled eyes.

"Whatever it may be," I told her confidently, "I will succeed. Have faith, and I'll get it done."

She looked into my eyes, and looked into me to see if I was truly willing to take on the task she was going to give me. Seeing my true intentions, she wiped her eyes with her gloved hand and smiled reassuringly.

"I believe in you, Lee," she told me. "So pay close attention to what I am about to tell you."

Nodding a reply, I willingly paid attention. She walked closer to the large, central mural on the cold, brick wall, slowly moved her hand across the carvings, and began telling me of their meaning.

"When Hyrule was created, and the Triforce was forged from the hands of the golden goddesses, it was much too powerful to keep it alone in this mortal world. The power could have consumed the land and made it as if it never was. Therefore the goddesses built five holy shrines to keep the relic's power stable.

She turned to me with a stern look on her face..

"These five shrines are found in many regions of Hyrule: within a vast forest, inside a mountain, underneath the surface of a grand lake, amongst the dead, and in the presence of the goddess of the desert. You must go to each shrine, and prove your worthiness by slaying the Keepers of the Power. Do you understand what you must do?"

"It makes sense to me," I replied calmly. "But I need to know, am I gonna be able to fight off monster with just a sword?"

"If you must, the Royal Guards will lend you whatever equipment you may think you need on your journey."

"Okay, then what are we waiting for?" I sarcastically asked. "Let's see what they have."

It was strange, yet satisfying. I was much too confident in myself that I started to act more calmly about it all. Hyrule depended on the success of my journey, so why was I feeling so strangely relaxed? Maybe I was confident enough to think that I was going to do well and survive the dangerous quest, but I was much too sure that my ignorance of what laid ahead was the true cause of my calm nature. I wouldn't know until I vetured onward, so I could only wait until danger came forth to me.

- - - - -

It was a nostalgic sight from where I stood. Many types of weapons hung on the wall on hooks and were also laid on the tables below. I looked at them all, finalizing my choice as to what I would bring with me on this "dangerous" journey I was to go on.

There was a certain problem, which not only irritated me but the princess as well. Although there were such a variety of weapons for many different purposes, it was much too difficult to decide on which ones I'd like to take and I felt would be of great use. Time was of the essence for me during this moment, as my journey must be complete as soon as possible, but impatience took over Zelda's worries of before and made me feel uneasy. _Wow_, I thought, _I never knew Zelda could be so pissed off about this sort of thing_. I looked over at her and saw irritation all over her. _I should choose something quick, or the end of Hyrule isn't the only thing I'm going to have to worry about_.

"Let's see..." I looked at what I could choose from. I already had a sword, but it was much too heavy to be swinging around all the time. I needed something lighter, faster, and as physically versatile as the Master Sword.

"If you want something easy to handle, and guarantees you speed, use this."

I turned around to see the Gerudo walking to my side, looking at the selection. She took a Gerudo saber from the counter.

"This weapon is slim yet very durable, and is also lighter than most one-handed swords that supposedly are fast." She held it up, pointing it outward as she looked down the blade to check for any abnormalities with the weapon. "This blade, being single-edged, is good for quick and powerful strikes. You might find it useful."

"Uh... thanks." I took the sword and held it firmly in my hand. It felt light, almost like it was part of my own arm. It cut smoothly through the air and the hilt had such a nice feel to it. It was almost like holding the wind in your hands.

"Ow! Crap, that hurt!"

The Gerudo took the sword away from me, placing it back on the counter.

"Are you ok?"

"Yeah, I'm fine now," I replied. The cut on my arm wasn't, though.

"Maybe you shouldn't handle such a sharp weapon," the Gerudo told me. "I'm sorry I forgot to mention that these sabers are razor sharp. You can easily hurt yourself if you misuse it even slightly."

"That's great to know," I sarcastically replied.

"Why are you here?" I heard a voice asked sternly. The Gerudo and I turned to see Zelda with her arms crossed and looking at the Gerudo with a serious expression. _Why is she so serious, and about what?_

"I apologize, but I heard that the Guardian is going on a quest," she replied. "That is why I came here to ask him something."

"And how did you hear about this?" Zelda asked, demanding an answer.

"I was walking through the halls in the dungeons, and I overheard you speak to him about his journey he must take," she explained. "And before you ask why I was in the dungeon, something was left in the cell I was kept in that belonged to me."

I looked at the Gerudo, and then I looked at Zelda. Why Zelda was interrogating the girl was beyond me, but she seemed a bit overprotective of me and my well-being. What did she not trust about this Gerudo?

"Anyway, I must ask you, Guardian." She turned to me, and bowed down respectfully. "May I accompany you on this journey you must go on?"

"You will not," her highness retorted. "The Guardian must go alone on this journey, and he will not have you, of all people, accompany him."

"What do you mean by 'of all people'?" she asked angrily. "Am I not good enough to aid him? Is it because I'm a Gerudo?"

"It has nothing to do with you being Gerudo," Zelda retorted irritantly. "I just don't trust you, that's all."

"And why not? What did I do to be untrustworthy?"

"Because we don't know anything about you or your motives," Zelda returned. "You become safe from death, but your innocence isn't guaranteed by Lee's actions, you eavesdrop on us, and you appear out from nowhere into this room. We don't even know you rname, and you ask him to take you on this quest? You might kill him in his sleep!"

"Hey, hey, hey!" I called out to both of them, standing in between them to stop their conflict from continuing on any further. "Can't we just calm down? Besides, isn't it my decision who comes with me on this quest?"

"You must go alone, Lee!" Zelda repeated herself once more. "This journey calls for no aid!"

"It said nothing like that on that wall," I reminded Zelda, who soon looked away in disappointment. I turned to the Gerudo. "Besides, why do you want to go? I mean, it's dangerous, and I might not live even halfway through it. Are you sure you want to come with me?"

"You saved my life," she told me. "I owe you more than just my aid, but I hope to show you my worth on this journey."

I looked at her and studied her. Gerudos were known to be very sly and they would usually steal from rich families of Hyrule. There were a few cases where the Royal Family lost precious items to the Gerudos, which could explain Zelda's distrust in the Gerudo, but they are also proud thieves so they expected as much. However, her knowledge in weapons was far beyond that of any Hylian soldier I met so far - even if it was just a few - and she was exceptionally skilled in the art of combat. It might help me to get this done as quickly and safely as possible, but if Zelda was right then I could lose my life. It was either get the quest done faster, or get it done faster the "other" way, if you know what I mean.

_Well, it looks like I have no choice._

I took the saber from the Gerudo's hand and placed it back into its sheath. I strapped it around my waist and then chose some chain mail armour. I went on my way to change into the armour, but stopped midway to look back at the Gerudo.

"What's your name?" She hesitated momentarily at the question, but complied to answer.

"It's Kifah, sir."

"That's an interesting name," I told her. She smiled at my compliment, and I returned it with another smile. I went back to the counter and grabbed another Gerudo saber, tossing it to her.

"You gotta teach me how to use that thing, okay?" I walked out the room, and at the doorway I told her, "Take what you can carry. We'll be leaving soon."

I walked out of the room, leaving both Zelda and Kifah in a state of surprise. I wasn't sure if I should believe Zelda and leave Kifah out of this, or if I should have her accompany me on this dangerous journey and seek her aid. it's a risky decision, both choices being equally dangerous. I had no choice, and I needed help from a trained individual to survive this. _I just hope I live to see which choice was the right one._


End file.
